


Best Friend's Brother

by DirtyLarryStylinson



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Anal Sex, Best friend's brother, Bottom Harry, Dominant Louis, Eventual Smut, Flirting, Harry is Liam's best friend, Harry kinda has a troubled home life, Innocent Harry, Louis likes making Harry uncomfortable, M/M, Mutual Pining, Secret Relationship, Sexual Tension, Teasing, Top Louis, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Zayn harasses Harry, larry stylinson - Freeform, louis is liam's brother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-13
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-02-01 23:03:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 85,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12714594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DirtyLarryStylinson/pseuds/DirtyLarryStylinson
Summary: *Best friend's brother AU*When Harry Styles realises that his best friend, Liam, has an older brother hotter than the sun itself, how will he cope with the tension?~Harry Styles, 17, has been best friends with Liam Tomlinson for a couple of years. When he meets Louis Tomlinson, Liam's hot older brother, sexual tension ensues, too powerful to be ignored.But will Liam discover the sexual connection between his best friend and brother? And will it ever be resolved?





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is my shot at a best friend's brother story. In the story, Liam's surname is Tomlinson, to clear up any confusion. I will try my hardest to convey as much sexual tension as possible, as it's the best! ;)
> 
> I really hope you enjoy chapter 1 x
> 
>  
> 
> How they kinda look:
> 
> Harry:  
> [](http://tinypic.com?ref=5wh1t3)  
> (He basically looks really really cute and innocent.)
> 
> Louis:  
> [](http://tinypic.com?ref=2lkwj6u)  
> (Louis looks hella hot and mature.)
> 
>  
> 
>  *****Little disclaimer*****  
>  Zayn, Louis' best friend in the story, acts a way towards Harry that could be defined as sexual harassment - it isn't physical. Do not read if you're uncomfortable with this. Thanks!

"Apparently Niall's called in sick again." Liam loudly declared as he sauntered out from the stockroom, carrying a heavy-looking box in his strong hands. "But then again, when is he _not_ sick?"

Harry was very much preoccupied with sweeping the floor behind the bakery counter, in so much of a daze due to the concentration of neatly getting the job done, that he had to hum as a way of asking Liam what in the world he had just said.

"In your own world again, Haz? I swear you've already swept that floor a hundred times today." Liam teased, placing the cardboard box down on the counter, so a cloud of flour flurried into the air. 

Harry balanced the wooden broom's handle against the wall, wiping his hands off down his apron and taking a seat on a high stool, his long legs bent so his feet could rest on the rungs.

"It's not like there's anything better to be doing, we haven't had a customer in over half an hour." Harry alluded, after checking the time on the clock. His eyes spent a lot of the day trained on that clock face, and the hands never seemed to move. 

He glanced around the desolate bakery. It wasn't unusual for it to be so empty on a late Saturday afternoon, when it was unpleasantly spitting rain outside, and dark clouds were cast above the entire village. Nobody in their right mind would want to venture out in such miserable weather for the sake of an iced bun.

"Ed said there isn't a lot to do today, so I guess today is an okay day for Niall to throw a sickie."

Ed was one of those _cool_ managers, the type who would let them stand around chatting with each other when the bakery wasn't too busy, or allow them to wander off into the stockroom to go on their phones if they so wished to. The fact that he had given them all a Saturday job there, together, in the _first_ place made him a godsend; Harry didn't think he would be able to get through a single day without Liam or Niall there to brighten it up. It was a decent pay for seventeen-year-olds too, enough to temporarily line their pockets until they blew all their wages on things they really didn't need.

"Wait, Niall's throwing a sickie again?" Harry ascertained, having once again let what Liam told him go straight over his head, taking a long time to process it.

"Yes, I did tell you this earlier, while you were daydreaming." Liam chuckled, straightening up the countertop pricing menu. "But you always choose to ignore me."

"I don't mean to, I'm just a reflective guy." Harry grinned. Liam returned it, deeply inhaling, holding it for a couple of seconds, and slowly exhaling.

"It's a shame Niall's not in, actually. I was going to ask you both if you wanted to come round." Liam unveiled, a tempting smile on his face. Harry's eyebrows were urged to raise, physically standing up from the stool.

"Really?" He vociferated in disbelief. Liam nodded, a smug smile spread across his face. 

Now, Harry had known Liam Tomlinson and Niall Horan for a little over two years now, since they had become acquainted during their time in school, and the three of them had formed a very close-knit bond throughout this time. They shared secrets; took the piss out of each other; pranked each other, yet generally helped each other through school and work - just basic qualities of a friendship. But there was one thing that didn't quite add up, an unspoken thing that Harry had always been internally inquisitive about: Liam never, **ever** invited them over to his house. Ever. In the two or more years of being best mates. 

They had all been to Harry's, and Niall's, homes countless time to hang out or stay the night, but when it came to Liam's house, they didn't even know where he _lived._ For Liam to actually be offering an invite, for the first time since their friendship had entered the 'visiting each other's houses' stage, was virtually unthinkable. He usually had an excuse ready as to why they couldn't come round.

_My mum's got a ton of office work to catch up on, she'll probably tell me off for creating distractions._

_Our house is an absolute tip at the moment! We're having the kitchen renovated, you see._

_My dad's really unwell, it would be best to keep visitors away for the time being._

Each excuse seemed to vary in solemnity, but Harry and Niall could never protest without being aware of the _deeper_ reason. Harry was dying to just grill Liam about it, question him and coax out the true reason, but he always left it. He didn't want to put Liam on the spot, so he let the excuses slide.

"Buuut, seeing as Niall's 'ill'," Liam used finger quotations, wisely, "Maybe we should reschedule." He was doing it on purpose, entirely on purpose. He knew how badly Harry wanted to see his house and meet his parents, but he wanted to see _how_ badly.

"I'll text him! You really think that idiot is ill? He's just at home playing Fifa!" Harry erupted, excitedly, tugging on Liam's sleeve in persuasion. " _Pleeease?_ "

The bell above the door tolled, their first customer in way too long, so Liam sprung into his customer service spirit and approached the till to serve them.

"Liam," Harry sternly said, poking him annoyingly between his shoulder blades, while he was trying to advise the lady that they had a range of gluten-free products on offer. "Liam!"

"I'm really sorry, my colleague just has to tell me something." Liam apologised to her quickly.

He twisted around, his face full of fabricated vexation, trying to keep his smile from breaking through the professional front he had on.

"What?" He hissed, keeping his voice quiet.

"Please." Harry whispered, starting to sound like a broken record, sporting his best attempt at his puppy dog eyes (which wasn't difficult, considering he already had large, long-lashed eyes in a convincing emerald shade.)

"Okay. Text him," Liam raised his hands in defence, huffing out a laugh. "You're welcome. Go."

"Love you," Harry sang, dropping Liam an impudent wink before strolling off into the back room to send Niall a text.

* * *

It turns out Niall wasn't ill at all - surprise, surprise - and jumped at the opportunity to finally see Liam's house. This was an absolute revelation.

Ed released Harry and Liam when he had locked up the bakery, once the clock had finally dragged it out to 4pm, and luckily Harry had brought a change of clothes which he had slipped into before closing, so he was wearing black skinny jeans and a plain white t-shirt, opposed to baggy, black, flour-coated trousers and a tacky polo shirt. They jumped in Liam's car, which was parked at the side of the road, and got settled before venturing off to pick Niall up.

He was, surprisingly, on time, and waiting on the corner of the street as instructed. He grinned widely as he approached the parked car, jumping into the back seat and slamming the door behind him.

"Alright, skiver?" Liam jokingly greeted, waiting for Niall to plug in his seat belt before starting the car again and continuing the journey. 

Niall faked a ridiculous cough, out of pure humour. "I'm very ill, Liam, give me a break."

Harry laughed and rolled his eyes, resting his feet up on the dashboard of Liam's car, before being scolded by the latter and told he would 'leave muddy foot marks.'

"What's with the sudden invites, then?" Harry decided to query, casually picking at his nail. "Going to your house, this is a first."

"Do you want to know the real reason?" Liam briefly glanced over at Harry, an eyebrow raised, before concentrating on the road again.

"Yes!" Harry chanted. "Tell us!"

Liam brought the car to a halt at the red light, looking out of the window on his right to avoid meeting eyes with Harry, or with Niall via the rearview mirror.

"Well, it's because I'm pretty sure my dickhead of a brother is out."

"You have a brother?!" Harry and Niall chorused in unison, voices coated with sheer astonishment.

"Yeah." Liam breathed a chuckle to himself. "I do. And he's a bastard."

"How have you never mentioned having a brother?" Harry exclaimed, unable to believe such a simple fact had never been voiced. "How?! We've known you over two years, Liam!"

"You never asked?" Liam offered, stepping on the gas once the light turned green again, veering the car left at the intersection. Niall was brightly laughing in the back seat, his face buried into the back of Harry's headrest, seeming to find this absolutely hilarious. But then again, he found everything absolutely hilarious.

"You never asked about Gemma, but you know she's my sister!" Harry pointed out. "And Greg, Niall's mentioned him before."

"Well they're both nice, my brother is an arsehole. I like to just pretend he doesn't exist." Liam accused, but he had a slight smile on his face, probably because his brother had no idea he was being spoken badly of.

Harry watched out of the windscreen ahead as they had entered the area of the village that he didn't fully recognise. The houses looked modern and bright, built in a linear layout, each side of the road.

"He's that embarrassing that we couldn't come round when he was home?" Niall asked, voice full of amusement. "How old is he? Younger I'm guessing."

"He's twenty."

Niall's fit of laughter resumed, smacking his knee, causing Harry to wrinkle his nose up and wonder why he found everything about life so very funny. He would love to live a day in the life of Niall Horan, it would be effortless. So Liam's brother was three years older than them, yet he was apparently too repulsive to unleash his friends around. Interesting. 

Liam pulled up to a semi-detached house at the end of the road, which was of average size, brown-bricked and normal. There was a hanging basket with bright red flowers hung by the front door, a welcome mat lay down, and it looked very nice. There were white pebbles scattered throughout the drive, with some paving slabs leading up to the entrance itself.

"It's nice," Harry complimented, "Surely this can't be your house, Liam."

"Shut it." Liam snapped, playfully slapping Harry's forearm. The three of them jumped out of Liam's car and he locked it behind them, leading them to the front door with the delightful sound effect of crunching pebbles beneath their feet. Liam dug in his pocket for a key, retrieving it and sticking it in the lock, opening up the house and allowing his friends to step in, before shutting the door again behind them.

The house was delightfully warm and cosy, with a scent of vanilla hanging in the air. The hallway they stood in consisted of light oak flooring, with a grey rug perfectly positioned in the centre. There was a staircase on the left, what looked like the kitchen straight ahead, and a door to the living room on the right. It was immaculately tidy, with artsy photo frames littered up the wall beside the ascending stairs. The only single thing that seemed to stand out from the tidiness was a scruffy pair of black and white Old Skool Vans, which looked to have been carelessly kicked off and discarded by the stairs. Liam's eyes were trained on the shoes, and his expression had changed slightly.

"What?" Harry asked.

"They're my brother's shoes." He sighed, shutting his eyes momentarily. "I'm pretty sure they're all he wears, he's probably here."

Once again, Niall's laugh rang out. "Uh oh, Liam. Hashtag fail."

"Shut up, Niall." Liam chuckled, bending down to scoop up the rather worn out shoes, neatly placing them amongst the other footwear on the shoe rack on the right of the door, where they belonged in the first place. "We will just have to avoid him."

Harry used one hand on Niall's shoulder to balance himself as he lifted one foot, unzipping one of his boots and shaking it off of his foot, followed by the other, before placing them down neatly beside the tattered Vans. Niall and Liam did the same with their trainers, before Liam hurried ahead to the kitchen, scoping it out momentarily to make sure it was sibling-free, before gesturing for his two friends to follow him inside.

The kitchen was very modern and spacious, so much so that their voices echoed slightly off the walls. Harry and Niall jumped up onto the bar stools in front of where the kitchen counter branched off into a table, while Liam searched the fridge for something they could all drink.

"Is orange juice okay?"

They both agreed, and Liam pulled out a carton and three tall glasses from the cupboard, filling them all up before handing them out to his mates, who thanked him appreciatively. There was a brief silence while they drank, and Niall was the first to fill it.

"Have you only got one sibling, then?"

"Yeah." Liam said, collecting up their glasses and standing them in the washing up bowl. Harry was looking around for any family photos hung up, unable to spot any around, curious to know whether Liam's brother looked like him at all. He loved picking out facial similarities between siblings.

"Let's go upstairs, I'll show you my room," Liam suggested, leading them back out into the hallway. Harry's eyes scanned the photos on the left of the stairs as they climbed up, but they were simply artful pictures, not family-orientated ones. Liam opened the second door on the left, welcoming his friends inside. "Welcome to my humble abode."

The room was small and box-shaped, just the right size to be cosy but not cramped. Harry took a seat on the edge of Liam's made bed, tapping his feet nonchalantly on the carpeted floor.

"You've got a really nice house, Li," He complimented, telling the absolute truth. Liam's house was very orderly, especially his bedroom, which was very different to Harry's pigsty of a room at his house.

"Cheers. It's alright, I guess." He shrugged, pushing up some Xbox games which had slanted on his windowsill. "Would be nicer without Louis living in it, but I survive somehow."

"Is Louis your brother?" Harry interrogated.

"Yeah."

Harry hummed in thought, nodding. 'Louis Tomlinson.' Sounded like a name. Well, it _was_ a name, obviously.

"What should we do?" Niall asked, having taken a seat on the swivel chair in front of Liam's desk.

"To be honest, there's not a lot to do up here except play Xbox. But I'm sure you've been playing it all day, Niall, right?" Liam mocked, with a grin.

"Ha ha, you're hilarious."

"We could put on a film in the living room, if you want?" Liam offered, looking between his friends for their input.

"Sure, I'm down for whatever." Harry shrugged. 

They all made the unanimous decision to head back down the stairs, going straight ahead in the hallway and into the white-sofad, cream-carpeted living room. There was a large television stood on a glass stand on the left of the room. Liam shut the door from the hallway, and Harry hurried to get the corner seat of the sofa, it being his favourite, so Niall childishly protested. Liam grabbed one of the _Fast & Furious_ movies amongst the vast variety lining the shelves, inserting it into the DVD player before jumping onto the sofa between Harry and Niall. As the sofa was an 'L' shape, and Harry was in the corner with his two friends to his left, it meant he had an entire section of sofa in front of him on which he could lay his long legs. _Paradise._

The film started, and now was when Harry realised that he really didn't want to watch an entire movie right now. He couldn't protest though, knowing how indecisive he would look, so he shut up and tried to engage himself in the fast-paced opening scene as it began. He wasn't at all interested in it, having seen this film countless times and knowing the plot like the back of his hand, whereas Niall and Liam seemed enticed by it. He took his time to become familiar with the comfortable room instead, still unable to believe they were finally in Liam's house.

Harry could hear footsteps from in the hallway, the sound of somebody coming down the stairs, but Liam and Niall didn't seem bothered, as their attention was wholly captivated by the film. A moment later, however, the living room door flew open.

The three boys whipped their head round to look towards the doorway, and Harry felt like his heart temporarily stopped pumping blood through his veins. His eyes were frozen on the individual in the doorway, and he couldn't rip them away if he _tried_. The man stood in the doorway was probably around 5'9" in height, dressed down in slim-fit jogging bottoms and a too-tight grey t-shirt. He had playful tattoos scattered up his right arm, which held open the door.

And the _face,_ the God Damn face. He was all chiseled cheekbones and piercingly crystal-blue eyes, his hair messily fussed with yet sexy all the same, swept across his forehead. Harry must have been staring the whole time, but the boy, who must have been Liam's brother, was holding the eye contact rather powerfully.

"Louis, go _away._ " Liam whined, scrambling to grab the remote control and press pause on the television. Louis' eyes only just left Harry's at that moment, falling onto his brother instead. Harry concluded that Louis looked nothing like Liam. At all. Nope.

"Does mum know you have friends over?" His voice was so soft, softer than Harry ever would have guessed, and was maybe an octave higher in pitch than it would have seemed. It was delightful, Harry wanted him to keep speaking, but right now was too scared to even look Louis' way. His eyes were trained on the television, despite it being frozen still, and he hated how he felt a hot flush creeping onto his cheeks. He was so obvious when it came to finding somebody attractive. But this boy, he was like a punk-rock, steaming hot bad boy, and it made Harry's pulse thicken. _Shit._

"Yeah, she does," Liam claimed, "Now go away."

Louis did the absolute opposite, entering the room fully and shutting the door behind him. He was heading straight for where Harry's legs were perched on the sofa, so the latter shifted his lanky legs off and onto the floor instead. In his head, he was screaming _"please don't sit right there, you're so fucking hot, I can't have hot guys anywhere near me. Go away!"_

Louis took a casual seat where Harry's legs had previously been, stretching his arms over the back of the sofa, crossing his legs (with a pair of gorgeously thick thighs that Harry really, really wanted to bite on, which shocked him as his mind was usually so _clean_.) Louis smiled so fucking smugly at his younger brother, whose face had never shown so much pure anger, shooting lasers of hatred at him.

"Louis, why do you have to be so annoying? Go. Away." He warned, leaving a pause between each of the final two words. Harry was staring at his hands now, not daring to look up, whereas Niall was staring with intrigue at Louis. Harry wished he had Niall's confidence, but the only thing that differed between them was that Harry was into guys, Niall was not, so he didn't have that crippling attraction towards Louis.

"This is my house, too," Louis jeered, his eyes moving from Liam and back onto _Harry._ He looked Harry over thoroughly before continuing. "I'll do what I want."

Harry really wanted to melt away into the sofa. He couldn't handle this.

"So? I have mates round, you never want to sit with me when I'm on my own. Please just go!" Liam implored. Harry didn't quite know where to look, resulting in timidly looking down at his folded hands in his lap.

"Aww, are you a shy one?" Louis' voice had dropped a tone. Harry startlingly glanced up through his eyelashes to see Louis looking at him once again. 

"Leave him alone, Louis, he's only shy because you're here. He isn't usually." Liam accused. For crying out _loud_ , Liam! Could that have made it any more obvious that Harry found Louis hotter than the actual sun? Louis was causing Harry to have thoughts he never thought he could imagine. This was really bad.

"That's what I do to people, make them shy," Louis commented lowly, "Among other things."

Okay, that was very hot. Harry's stomach flipped in arousal, and right now all he wanted to do was run upstairs with Louis. Into a locked room. Alone. What was happening to Harry's mind?

"You're gross, leave us alone. Bye!" Liam shouted the final word, giving Louis a cue to leave and enthusiastically waving at him. "This is when you leave, Louis."

"Alright, kids," Louis shrugged, smirk remaining as he jumped to his feet. Harry really didn't mean to check out his arse, luckily he wasn't caught by anybody. Damn, this boy had a good body on him. Harry wanted to see it all. "I'm Louis, by the way, Liam's amazing brother."

"I'm Harry." Yeah, Harry's stupid mouth blurted that out in a surge of confidence. Everybody turned to Harry. Great, now three pairs of eyes were on him, Louis' being the most powerful.

"And I'm Niall." He cut in, and Harry wanted to shake his hand and thank him for ceasing the awkwardness. Louis didn't take his eyes off Harry though. Oh God, the tension was making Harry's blood boil.

"Nice to meet you, Harry... Niall." The pause Louis left between their names seemed _too_ intentional. "I would be a cool older brother and offer you all a beer, but I can see that you're probably way too innocent for alcohol, Harry, am I right?"

Harry swallowed thickly and shrugged heavily. Liam and Niall were laughing together at his shyness.

"Don't drink, no." Harry piped up.

Louis smiled softly at him, a nice, sincere sort of smile, and nodded to himself.

"Good. You guys shouldn't be drinking at your age anyway. Not too young for sex, though, are you?" Louis winked. What the fuck? He left a pause, eyes remaining on Harry before continuing again. "Why aren't you guys all out there finding some hot girls to shag?"

"Bye, Louis." Liam groaned in embarrassment. "Leave."

"Bye, lads." And as quickly as he had turned up, Louis disappeared into the hallway. Harry's heart was beating three times faster now than before Louis had first entered the room. What in the world just happened?

"See? He's an arsehole." Liam rolled his eyes.

"Kinda see what you mean now." Niall cackled. "At least we've met him now, right?"

No, it was not good that they had met him. Now Harry would be on edge whenever they came to Liam's house. The sexual tension that had built up inside of him was so high it could explode out of him by now, the suggestive tone to Louis' voice, the intense eye contact. It couldn't have been a coincidence, surely not. Unless Harry was seeing what he wanted to see... perhaps. Probably not.

"He tries to act so cool all the time, it kills me." Liam dug his head into a cushion. Harry found Louis pretty cool actually, it seemed to come naturally to him. Along with being generally seductive and _hot, hot, hot._

"Anyway, let's finish this film." Niall sang, grabbing the remote control from Liam's lap and pressing play.

All Harry wanted to do was leave the room and go and find Louis. He never even wanted him to leave the room, to be honest, but he did anyway. He didn't concentrate on the rest of the film, too caught up in the filthy thoughts relating to Louis fucking Tomlinson. He would have to visit Liam's house more often. 


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pre-warning: contains Eleanor as Louis' temporary girlfriend.

Harry was very stuck. It was very emotionally debilitating having such a major crush on his best friend's older, cockier brother, especially when they didn't catch on at all. Harry would no longer be able to even _think_ about Liam without his face slowly morphing into Louis' in his mind. 

That luscious tan covering the expanse of Louis' skin, like he was on an eternal sunny holiday; Liam's skin was paler in complexion. That was a notable difference. And Louis' eyes, they were almost _too_ blue. Sickeningly blue, like a cloudless sky. Then there was Liam, with the generic brown eyes. Harry was in no way calling Liam unattractive - he was far from it - but Louis was just a few levels _above_ attractive. Miles above. He was everything Harry could wish for in an attractive male, to be quite frank, and it wasn't fair at all.

And now that Harry and Niall had _met_ Louis, Liam wouldn't have the excuse to hide him away anymore.

The second time Harry ever saw Louis, was because he, Niall and Liam were stranded at a seemingly deserted bus stop, with no sign of the midday bus ever making an appearance. And to make matters worse, it was raining; absolutely tipping it down. Harry had pathetically removed his hood-less, thin and flimsy jacket and was holding it above his head as a temporary roof, his arms aching with the effort, while Liam was trying to cower back as much as he could amongst the water-dripping bush behind the bus stop, and Niall was just allowing the water rushing down to soak him through to the skin. He no longer cared.

"This fucking bus isn't coming, is it?"

"If it was, it would have been here a good twelve minutes ago." Niall called over the pattering of rain hitting the asphalt of the road, his teeth chattering and bottom lip shaking.

"I'm just going to text Louis and get him to pick us up." Liam resolved, pulling out his phone.

All the while, Harry was internally panicking about seeing Louis again. It had been a whole four days since he had first met Louis at Liam's house, and even that had been long enough. He had been on Harry's mind ever since. Liam was chattering away into his phone, to Louis, but Harry had drowned out the noises of conversation with his overpowering thoughts about Louis' face, once again.

"Alright, Louis, thank you so much. See you in a minute." Liam concluded the call, bent right over his phone to protect the screen from water damage. He pushed the device into his front pocket. "He will be here to pick us up in a few minutes."

Oh no. An actual angel on earth was only a few minutes away, Harry didn't think that left much time for mental preparation. He couldn't see Louis again, he just could not. It was all way too much.

"I thought you hated your arsehole of a brother?" Niall smirked at the reminder. "Do you only like him when he does things for you?"

Harry wanted Louis to do things for him. So many dirty, dirty things. _God Damn it._

"Exactly, he seems in one of his rare _nice_ moods today. He didn't actually agree to pick me up until I said I was with you guys, so that shows he doesn't _really_ care about me, he probably just wants to seem like a cool guy."

...Interesting. Louis didn't agree to pick them up until Liam mentioned being with his friends. Harry was, as Louis knew, one of Liam's friends. Was Harry overthinking all of this shit again? Most likely. He just really wanted Louis to like him too.

"Really? It's probably because of his pretty obvious crush on Harry." Niall nudged the boy in question suggestively, and Harry couldn't help but feel his cheeks flush red from the attention. If Niall had noticed something weird, surely there was something behind what Louis was saying to Harry a few days prior?

"Don't be weird," Liam rolled his eyes, "He doesn't have a crush on Harry. He has a girlfriend, anyway."

Harry experienced immediate heartbreak. It was like an arrow dart, tinged with poison, had been struck into his heart and shattered it into five million pieces. He wanted to walk away from his friends and have a _really_ long cry at that moment. Louis had a girlfriend? Well, it was hardly surprising, but shit. Shit.

"He doesn't have a crush on me anyway, Niall, you _are_ being weird." Harry quickly sprung in to his own defence, trying to camouflage the fact that Liam had just burnt down the magical, romantic Kingdom he had built for he and Louis in his head.

"How does Louis' girlfriend put up with him?" Niall cackled, prodding Liam on the arm. "I mean, he seems very... controversial."

And before Liam could answer that, a silver BMW 750i was pulling up onto the road beside them. Harry wanted to run the opposite way to that vehicle. It was unexplainable how fast his heart was beating all of a sudden.

"Come on, jump in the back. I will withstand the passenger seat." Liam chuckled, leading his friends towards the car. Harry kept his gaze trained on his feet as he walked, absolutely terrified that he would look into those eyes of Louis' and his knees would go weak. Liam jumped into the passenger seat, while Niall opened the back door and slid across to the furthest seat, allowing Harry in behind him.

Louis' car smelt of an alluring aftershave. Harry wanted to roll into a ball and cry. He still didn't look over in Louis' direction as he clipped in his seatbelt, proceeding to look out of the window on his left.

"You alright?" Louis casually asked, addressing them all, seemingly, but Harry really was not alright. His heart was hammering in his chest and he wanted to be at home so he could obsess within the privacy of his bedroom. 

"Okay, thank you, cheers for the lift." Niall brightly spoke up. Again, Harry wanted that confidence. He hated how he was sat diagonally from Louis, whereas Niall was sat the seat behind Louis, because he could see him more clearly and then he couldn't stop staring. Louis wore a dark blue jumper and light blue skinny jeans today, and his hair looked even more sexily ruffled than the last time. 

"Where am I dropping you two off?" Louis queried, and at that moment span around in his seat and made _immediate_ eye contact with Harry. He had effectively just caught Harry already looking, and it increased the tension by about triple. Harry's eyes dipped down to find his feet once again.

"Danefield Road, for me." Niall informed him, with a polite smile, and then Harry felt Louis' eyes on him yet again.

"Harry?"

_Fuck._

Harry's eyes linked with Louis' again, and the dazzling blue in them made the world seem to start spinning slower. Harry's mind and body froze, eyes darting around Louis' face to take it all in.

"I... I-I don't know." He illogically divulged, before wanting to physically slam his head against the window from the absolutely ridiculous response. Louis had caused him to stutter _and_ speak jibberish in the same sentence - gold medal to him.

"You... don't know where you _live_?" Louis interrogated, with a smirk radiating off his face and making Harry want to disappear completely.

"I-"

"He lives down Parkway." Liam cut in, noticing how much his friend was suffering, and how it was only maximising the time it would take everybody to get home.

Louis gave Harry one last smug glance before spinning to face the steering wheel again. Harry shut his eyes immediately and very quietly released the breath he had been holding. Why did Louis make him a stuttering, nervous mess so easily?

"Danefield Road and Parkway. Got it." Louis nodded, before twisting the key in the ignition and jolting the engine to life again. He cranked the volume of the radio up _very_ high all of a sudden, as he stepped on the gas and sped up the road, and Harry was a little bit overwhelmed by all this. He found it undeniably hot that Louis drove so fast.

 _Harry wondered whether Louis fucked fast, too._ He really shouldn't have been contemplating this while sat in the back of his car, with his brother present too.

The bass from the fast, deafening music shook the entire car, stirring Harry's thoughts even more. He was so disorientated, Louis just half a metre from him, and he was trying to bite back a smile. He turned to look at Niall, whose hand was tapping along on his knee to the music, and when he looked at Harry he let out a silent laugh, the type where his face scrunched up in humour but no sound came out. He probably still found Harry's awkward, stammering situation funny.

Louis stopped the car at a red light, and his eyes _instantly_ found the rearview mirror, locking with Harry's. Harry, surprising himself, held the eye contact, all while his heart beat as fast as the bass, and the eye contact must have lasted at least four seconds before Louis broke it off, and the traffic light turned to green.

Harry had goosebumps all over him from the eye contact. It had spiralled his head into a complete frenzy, hormones rushing through him. Louis was driving him crazy. Harry made sure to keep his gaze down again from then on, knowing next time he wouldn't be able to stop himself from literally pouncing on Louis.

They reached Niall's house a few minutes later, and Louis had made no effort to turn down the music, meaning Niall was yelling over it when to stop the car.

"Cheers, Louis," He called out, opening the car door. "See you later, Liam, Harry."

"No problem, mate." Louis gave a brief wave, before waiting for Niall to slam the door shut and speeding down the road again. It felt somewhat more awkward, lacking Niall's presence, as Harry was just sat with Liam and his insanely hot brother. The tension was thick and Harry just wanted to scream to get rid of it.

He was honestly thankful when they pulled into his street, knowing he couldn't have withstood this any longer. Louis leant forward and turned down the music, almost completely.

"Which one is it, Harry?"

_Well, he hadn't done that for Niall._

"The second to last one on the right." Harry managed to speak this time, knowing it would be foolish to end up tripping over his words again. Louis parked the car on the curb outside said house, switching the engine off.

"Do you have a key?" He asked Harry, then. Liam was idly on his phone, paying no notice to their conversation.

"No, I'll just knock."

"We'll wait here to make sure you can get in."

_He hadn't done that for Niall either._

"Oh, thanks." Harry piped up, before scrambling to climb out the car. He shut the door politely behind him and awkwardly walked up the path to the front door of his house. He could practically feel Louis and Liam's eyes on him as he tested the doorhandle.

 _Locked._ NO. Harry couldn't fucking handle it, for crying out loud. He was going to explode if he had to stay around Louis, or get a boner, one of the two. "Harry, do you want to come to our house for a while?" Louis' voice startled him suddenly. Instant heart attack. He span around on his feet to see that Louis had rolled the car window down, and had shouted from that.

"Umm... Sure?" It came out as a question, rather than an agreement. He strolled towards the car again.

 _Did Louis' eyes slowly trail down his body as he approached, or was his mind too clouded with tension to think straight? Because it really looked like Louis' eyes slowly trailed down his fucking body as he approached._ So briefly.

He hopped into the back of the car again, throwing his backpack down into the footwell, and Liam was laughing at him.

"Locked out, Hazza? Maybe your family are in but they just hate you." He kidded, and Harry shot him a humorous death stare as he tugged his seatbelt on again.

"I wouldn't be surprised." He chuckled.

"Why wouldn't you be surprised?" Louis interjected, turning the car around and heading towards the start of the street once again.

"It's a joke, Louis." Liam snidely commented, violently flicking his arm.

"Get off me, you bellend." Louis swatted his hand away. "Unless you want me to end up wrapping this car around a tree, stop distracting me."

Harry quietly laughed to himself while observing the sibling rivalry, knowing he and Gemma had been the same when they were a bit younger. He found that a good resolution of the tension was to sit there aimlessly scrolling through his phone, literally doing nothing whatsoever on it, to avoid looking up at Louis the rest of the way to the Tomlinsons' house.

The three of them jumped out the car and Harry tried so hard not to look at Louis' bum and legs. He was shorter than Harry, which for some reason was sexy. Don't ask Harry why.

"Eleanor's coming over soon," Louis directed at Liam, as they approached the front door, "She'll probably want to say hi to you."

 _Eleanor._ Oh hell no, was Eleanor Louis' girlfriend? Fuck this, Harry didn't want to even set eyes on such an atrocity! She had caused Louis not to be single, that was enough for him to immediately form a disdain.

Liam seemed to hum in disinterest, opening the front door. Harry witnessed how carelessly Louis flicked his shoes off by the stairs, so they lay how they were when he had first visited their house.

"Do you want a drink, Harry?" Louis questioned as he headed towards the kitchen.

"He's my friend, Louis, I'll sort all that out." Liam groaned, before dramatically rolling his eyes to Harry. Harry smiled in response.

"No, thank you." He called back anyway, too shy to say yes. He would very happily have a drink (maybe of something Louis had to offer - wink, wink) but didn't want to have to go in there and accept it from him. Liam led he and Harry into the living room, and they both fell back onto the sofa.

"What now?" Liam queried, turning his head to look at Harry, who shrugged in response. The doorbell rang then, and Harry's insides twisted in disgust to think it might be Louis' girlfriend.

"Louis! Door!" Liam yelled, at the top of his lungs, clearly too lazy to get up himself to answer it.

"Calm down, you prick." Louis muttered from in the hallway. Harry listened to the sound of the front door being opened, and immediately picked up on a female voice greeting Louis. 

Girlfriend. Oh, God.

"I missed you so much!" The female voice shrilled out, and Harry knew they were most likely embracing and he felt sick.

"I missed you too, babe." Louis purred. Harry wanted that low, tempting voice to be said to him, not to hear somebody else being told that they were missed.

And, seeing as luck wasn't particularly on Harry's side today, the door to the living room swung open and Harry saw her. She was rather pretty, with wavy brunette hair and a bright smile. He wanted to disappear and never return.

"Hey, Liam." Her voice was bright and bubbly. Her eyes then found Harry. He wanted to snarl at her. "And hey, Liam's friend."

Harry couldn't ever help but be polite, giving her a welcoming smile. Liam started a conversation with her, which Harry tuned out of immediately, watching Louis enter the room instead. He strolled in, nonchalantly tapping his thumbs on his phone, taking a seat quite far from Harry on the sofa. Harry wanted him closer, despite his awkward nature. Eleanor was quickly filling the space beside Louis, though, drawing her feet up and resting her head on his shoulder. She nuzzled her face against the crook of his neck, but he continued to type on his phone anyway.

 _Oh, get a room._ It was funny how indifferent Louis was acting to her actions though.

"Isn't Liam's friend cute?" Eleanor cooed to Louis suddenly, her eyes on Harry again with a fond stare. 

_So is your boyfriend, bitch._

Instantly, upon hearing what she had said, Louis' eyes lifted from his screen, putting his phone away in his pocket and looking at Harry, too.

"And innocent." Louis chipped in. Holy shit, the intensity of that stare, despite Eleanor sitting cuddled up against him. The way Louis always used _innocent_ to describe Louis had a kind of sexual vibe to it, and it always made him shiver.

"Everybody thinks he's cute." Liam decided to step on the bandwagon, putting Harry on the spot completely, to the point where he cutely placed his hands over his eyes to avoid the stares.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Harry?" Louis asked. Fuuuck no. Nope. This wasn't okay, Harry didn't want to be questioned on this. Next question, please.

"No." He bluntly responded, twisting his hands together awkwardly.

"Surprising." Louis said.

_SURPRISING!_

"Yeah, it is." Eleanor agreed. The fact that she was so unaware about all of the sexual comments and stares Louis had given Harry, was amazing. Harry wanted to laugh in her face for taking the situation so chastely. 

Harry looked at Louis once again, at his smile, and just found himself staring once again at the beauty of him. Openly staring. But Louis stared right back, with the slightest sexy squint, looking as though a smirk was close to breaking through. Eleanor and Liam were focused on the television channel that Liam had put on, too concentrated to notice the stare-off.

"Harry, can I talk to you in the kitchen?" Louis suddenly asked. Harry's heartrate plummeted. _What?!_

"Uh... why?" He was panicking, purely panicking. Oh God, oh God, oh fuck.

"Just come to the kitchen."

Eleanor didn't seem to care about what was happening, and Liam wasn't paying it much attention whatsoever, and Harry's legs almost folded beneath him as he stood up and followed Louis out into the hallway. Was he about to meet his impending doom? Most probably.

Louis shut the kitchen door behind them. What was all this about? He leant casually against the kitchen counter, his eyes falling onto Harry, who was shifting timidly on his feet as his mind raced to think of what this could be for.

"Harry, I... I've noticed you staring at me quite a lot."

 _OH NO._ Could this get any worse? Harry knew that his eyes had widened slightly upon Louis saying this, and his teeth had sunk into his bottom lip as the nerves set in. He was absolutely speechless.

"I haven't." It was the stupidest response, really. Of course he had been staring, he had spent most of his time around Louis so far merely ogling over him.

"Listen, I don't mind if you... find me attractive, or something." Louis coolly shrugged. "It doesn't bother me."

Harry's mouth was open slightly, like he wanted to speak but couldn't, twisting his bracelet with one hand as a distraction. This couldn't get any worse.

"I don't find you attractive."

Was that mean? It was definitely a lie, but he hadn't intended for it to sound unkind.

"Well, I mean, you're not _unattractive_ , but _I_ don't find you--"

"Forget I even said anything. I'm sorry for putting you on the spot, Harry, it really wasn't fair of me to." Louis waved a hand to dismiss the conversation. "I'm really sorry. Please forgot about this."

"N-No problem." Harry gulped, but before he could head back into the living room, Louis caught him by the wrist. Harry turned on his heel towards him, in confusion. His breath caught in his throat as Louis rose his hands to hold Harry's face, one hand cupping each cheek.

"Just promise me you won't tell Liam about this conversation? Tell him I wanted you in here to make you a drink anyway."

Harry was trying to avoid Louis' eyes but it was impossible when his face was being angled to look at him. All he wanted to do was close the gap between them and kiss him so hard. Fuck, it was too much. Louis' hands were so warm on his skin.

"I promise." Harry softly said, just wanting to be far away from Louis all of a sudden. Louis released his hands from Harry's face, relieving him, before allowing him to wander back off towards the living room.

His heart was still pounding in his chest from the ordeal. The way Louis looked at him, the tension behind his words, it was too much. Of course he found Louis fucking attractive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tensions are very much rising


	3. Three

There was quite the midday rush of customers, that following Saturday at the bakery. There was Harry frantically typing orders into the till, taking money from customers, fishing out change; Liam trying his best to shovel the chosen food items into paper bags without dropping them on the floor; Niall throwing new batches into the ovens and rolling out fresh dough. By the time it had blown over, and the final customer of the rather overwhelming wave of an intensive forty minutes had left, Harry pretended to collapse into the chair at the side of the till to provoke laughter from his two mates.

"Fucking hell, why did that get so busy?" Niall sighed, wiping a layer of perspiration from his forehead. "I'm pretty sure every single person living in Holmes Chapel just wandered in."

"Pretty much," Harry chuckled, eyeing the clock on the wall, "Liam, I think it's your turn to go on your break now."

"Glad to hear it, I'm starving!" Liam rubbed his hands together, taking off his apron and carelessly throwing it onto the counter. "See you boys in half an hour."

"Enjoy it, mini Tommo." Niall high-fived him as he passed, almost a form of encouragement, and he strolled off into the back room. There was a calming silence over Harry and Niall, a subtle buzzing from the drinks fridge by the front door, and the occasional whoosh of a car gliding by outside.

"I'll get started on the date-rotations in the stockroom, are you okay staying out here?" Niall asked, pointing a thumb back to said room.

"How on earth will I serve all of these customers alone?" Harry sarcastically questioned, hands extending out to the completely empty bakery. "You'd be heartless to leave me."

Niall slowly smirked before ruffling Harry's hair. "You're funny, H. I'll be with the stock if you need me, yes?"

"Sure, that's fine."

Niall wandered off, leaving the space around Harry even _more_ silent, impossibly more. He dragged the high stool over to sit right in front of the till, sitting up high and drumming his fingers idly on the till's buttons.

Harry was still recovering from the bombardment of customers, his body calming gradually down from the overwhelming performance of multi-tasking, when the bell above the door rang. His eyes darted up from his fiddling fingers to see who had entered, and he immediately let out an embarrassing cough of shock to see that it was none other than Louis Tomlinson.

_God Damn it._

He played it off by continuing the cough casually, as though it had been an intentional and completely normal act of clearing his throat, before attempting a smile at Louis. It was hard to act so calm when Louis looked so hot, dressed in a baggy Adidas jumper and grey shorts. _Fucking. Shorts._

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=15gchfm)

"Uh... Hi, Louis." Harry finally found his words, after fighting so hard to keep his eyes from checking out Louis' tanned legs.

"Hello, Harry. You look busy." Louis sarcastically commented, tucking his hands into his front pockets and stopping about half a metre from the counter. He tilted his head to the side and smiled, a smile so pretty that could probably actually blind somebody, Harry reckoned.

"Busy as ever," He played along, smiling softly. "Anyway, I'm guessing you're here for Liam. You don't seem like the sort of guy to hang out in a bakery."

Why was Harry trying to flirt? For fuck's sake, Louis was already onto him, he couldn't ruin this again.

"Yeah, I came to tell him that our auntie has just died."

Harry let out a gasp, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry to hear that!" He exclaimed, eyebrows slanted in concern.

"I'm completely joking, our auntie's fine." Louis laughed, tapping his hand on the top of the glass case. Harry's face dropped in confusion and annoyance.

"You idiot," He laughed.

"Guilty." Louis grinned. "No, I just came to tell him that our mum's just cleaned out the swimming pool, finally, and seeing as it's a nice day he may wanna head straight home after work so he can enjoy it."

Okay... and he couldn't have just texted Liam to tell him that?

"Well, I could grab him from the staff room quickly if you want to talk to him?" Harry offered, glancing over his shoulder towards the door.

"No, no, it's okay. I assume he's elsewhere." Louis dismissed it, yet made no specific motion to turn and leave the building. He was leant against he counter, facing Harry - who wanted to die. He tried to distract himself by attempting to dust the flour from his apron, instead turning it into one big, white smudge.

"By the way, you've got some flour in your hair." Louis mentioned. Harry wanted to disappear, wondering how long that had been there. He was more bothered by the fact Louis had pointed it out, though.

"Oh," Harry laughed, shaking his hair frantically to rid of the unwanted flour. "That's always happening, I'm covered in the stuff."

Louis' voice dropped to a low, taunting tone all of a sudden, looking Harry directly in the eye. "Yeah, you're a dirty boy, huh?"

Harry audibly drew in a breath, one sharp inhale, and tried so hard to ignore how extremely turned on that made him. Holy shit, why did Louis have to do this to him? It was so painfully on purpose...

"Hi, Louis!" Niall had come through from the stockroom, meanwhile, carrying two packs of blueberry muffins, ultimately cutting off one of the most intense moments Harry had ever experienced. His blood was racing, stomach turning.

"You alright, Niall?" Louis greeted, with a bright smile. His voice had returned to normal, eyes on Niall now opposed to being intensely trained on Harry's reaction to the very under-the-surface, sexual comment.

"Doing well, thank you." Niall sang, cheerfully, placing the packets down on the surface behind the counter. "You looking for Liam?"

"Just came by to make sure you're all working your hardest," Louis grinned, eyes flicking between them. Harry tried his hardest to return it casually, yet really he wanted nothing more than to just jump over the bloody counter and drop to his knees in front of Louis. The thought of it was making him feel hot all over. But he couldn't get hard at work, no way.

 _It was the damn shorts, holy shit they looked good on Louis._ And not to mention the fact that he had just called Harry a dirty boy. Harry would love to be dirty for Louis.

"Of course we are," Niall put on an angelic smile, framing his face childishly with his palms. "We're the best workers in Holmes Chapel."

"Good to hear. Anyway, I must go, I'm meeting Eleanor." Louis' eyes shot right at Harry after dropping that sentence, as though he were awaiting some sort of reaction. Harry didn't give one, instead smiling gently and nodding.

"Okay, see you around."

Louis waved them both a goodbye before finally leaving, giving Harry a long-awaited glance at how great his arse looked in that material. Wow, it'd probably look even better out of it.

 

When Liam had returned from his break, and Harry mentioned that Louis had visited before leaving promptly to go and meet Eleanor, Liam's first response was: "But Eleanor flew to Spain for a family holiday two nights ago."

* * *

Harry worked out that Louis was trying to push him. He had worked out how much Harry had been lusting after him, over the short space of a week, with only three meetings, and he was trying his hardest to make Harry uncomfortable, jealous, flustered.

 _"Yeah, you're a dirty boy, huh?"_ \- the way his voice had dropped so suggestively, he wanted Harry to react purely for his own satisfaction. He knew what he was doing to Harry and he wanted to absolutely flaunt it. He was well aware of how hot he was, how much Harry thought so, too.

And the glance he gave Harry after mentioning having to rush off to meet Eleanor, who wasn't even in the freaking _country._ It couldn't have been coincidental, he wanted Harry to react and want him _more_. It may have of course been unfair on Harry, given doses of false hope, but at the same time he certainly did not mind the way Louis maximised the tension between them. It was fucking hot.

 

Liam invited Harry and Niall round to "chill in the swimming pool" after work. It was hardly surprising, seeing as Louis had already mentioned it to Harry, and it wouldn't exactly be fun for Liam to swim around on his own. Harry immediately agreed, not thinking through the process of having to be half-naked in a swimming pool, merely wanting to see Louis again now that he knew how purposeful his actions were.

They all signed out of work at 4, and agreed to meet at Liam's house around 5ish, with their swimming trunks and a towel. 

Harry was raking through his drawers at quarter to five in search of his swimwear, knowing full well he would soon have to strip from his t-shirt in front of (possibly) Louis. Unless Louis was out with an imaginary Eleanor still. Ha. He chose some plain yellow swimming trunks, grabbing a towel from the airing cupboard and stuffing them both into his rucksack.

His mum dropped him off at Liam's door, at five o'clock on the dot. He thanked her and jumped out, treading over the pebbles on the driveway and reaching the front door. He knocked loudly, internally thinking _please don't be Louis, please don't be Louis._

Liam answered the door a moment later, with Niall stood behind him. "Nice of you to join us, Harry."

"You say that as though I'm late," Harry chuckled, taking the invitation to step into the house, shutting the door behind him. "It's literally five o'clock exactly."

"It's a minute past now," Niall smirked, after checking his phone. "A whole minute late. You're despicable."

Harry really did hate his friends.

"Anyway, the pool is nice and warm, I tested the water a few moments ago. Sun's still out as well." Liam declared, as he led Harry and Niall up the stairs. They jogged to catch up. Liam already wore his swimming trunks, with a t-shirt on his top half.

"Harry, you can take the bathroom to change, Niall go in my room. I'll be downstairs, just head down when you're ready." Liam smiled, whipping off his t-shirt and launching it into the laundry basket on the landing before jogging off downstairs. Harry entered the bathroom, locking the door behind him and hurriedly changing into his swimming trunks. He forgot how tight and rather tiny the damn things were, but they were his only pair.

He admired himself in the mirror, wishing his skin wasn't so pale. He couldn't change that (unless he used fake tan or actually began being more sociable and spending time in the sunshine) so he embraced it instead and left the bathroom. Niall met him in the hallway and they headed downstairs together, after leaving their discarded clothes in Liam's bedroom.

Liam was idly drifting around in the swimming pool already, floating on his back peacefully. Niall decided to completely ruin it, with minimal warning, dropping his towel on the garden table before sprinting and dive-bombing into the water. Liam spluttered and flailed his arms around to prevent himself from literally drowning, slapping Niall on the arm.

"You prick, I was all relaxed!" He complained, putting on a pout. "Why did I even invite you?"

"Because I'm a great person to hang out with," Niall cheekily grinned, kicking his legs beneath him to keep himself above the surface. His hair was sopping wet already. "You coming in, Harry?"

"Yeah, give me a second," Harry called, neatly folding his towel and placing it on top of Niall's. "Is the water cold?"

"Only slightly, you pussy. Hurry up, already!" Liam exclaimed, splashing the water in impatience.

"Calm down, I'm coming..."

_"Yes, Zayn, obviously,"_

He suddenly became aware of the sound of Louis' voice, very nearby, seeming to be heading straight for the garden.

 _"I thought so."_ An unfamiliar voice responded, whom Harry reckoned must have been 'Zayn'.

Oh God, Harry was stood there in his tiny, yellow swimming shorts! He couldn't be seen like this. At top speed, he ran towards the pool and jumped in, feet first, the water shooting unpleasantly up his nose as he went under. When he resurfaced, he violently coughed, having almost swallowed a mouthful of the pool water, shaking his hair from his face. Niall and Liam were applauding him.

"Yay! He did it!" Liam cheered, patting Harry on the back. Harry's teeth were chattering, due to the seemingly freezing pool water, and then he realised Louis and another individual were stepping into the garden.

The man with Louis was a couple of inches taller in height, with a very slim frame and a black, tousled quiff. He was very attractive too, but nothing on Louis.

"Gone for a nice dip, boys?" Louis mocked. Harry cringed as he watched Louis and Zayn take a seat facing the pool, from not too far away. Harry had never felt more self-conscious.

"Why do you have to sit right there?" Liam complained, trying to lash out a stream of water from the pool towards Louis. It didn't quite reach him, leaving a stream of wetness on the patio.

"You should be glad that didn't get me." Louis warned, with a slight hint of smugness. Harry linked eyes with Louis across the garden. He just knew Louis would be making a comment now. "How's the water, Harry?"

"Freezing."

"Nice," Louis laughed. "Very calming. Doubt you'll be in there long, right?"

Harry shook his head in agreement, looking away finally to look at his two friends once again. Niall was racing around in the water, feet kicking waves of water up into Harry and Liam's faces, clearly not a care in the world that they were being observed by two 20-year-old hotties who had just nonchalantly wandered out. Harry already wanted to jump out of the water and wrap that warm towel around himself, and he probably would have done so if Louis and Zayn weren't sat right by said towel.

Louis and Zayn were chatting away, not paying too much attention, so Harry let loose a little and swam around with his mates. They had splash fights; raced across the length of the pool; chased each other around. Harry had began to become accommodated to the temperature of the water, used to it after spending around half an hour frolicking around for fun.

"Should we go get a drink? I'm parched." Liam commented, leaving no warning before planting his palms on the edge of the pool and hauling himself out of the water. Niall followed shortly after, mentioning how dry his throat was, and Harry wanted to stay in the water. His shorts revealed way too much of him, more than he wanted Louis to see right now, despite his constant sexual thoughts about getting it on with him.

He decided to man up, pushing himself out of the water and standing with his friends on the patio, so they left wet footprints imprinted on it. Louis was looking, he was definitely looking. Niall and Harry trailed behind Liam, following him right up to the table that Louis and Zayn were sat at to get their towels.

Yes, Louis' eyes took in Harry's body. Quite slowly. They admired how tightly the yellow fabric clung to his lower half, the way his entire abdomen and legs from the mid-thigh down were completely on display. Harry wanted to cry. He hurriedly grabbed his towel and thankfully wrapped it around himself, tearing Louis' eyes away. He didn't spare Louis a single glance, which felt quite accomplishing, following Liam into the kitchen to grab a drink.

When they returned to the garden - _dear mother of God_ , Louis and Zayn were in their swimming shorts. Harry hadn't even noticed before that they wore them on their bottom halves, and now they had stripped from the t-shirts and Louis' body was all Harry could see.

Tanned skin, an expanse of it. His abs were defined perfectly on his abdomen, with a couple of new tattoos that Harry hadn't seen yet. Curved across the chest, _'it is what it is'_ , with another tattoo nearby, a bold _'78'_. Then the thighs, the way they were half exposed, more than from the grey shorts earlier that day. Harry could probably have had an orgasm on the spot if he carried on staring. 

His eyes flicked upward to find Louis looking straight at him. He had been caught ogling over Louis' body, and his heart was thudding. But then again, Louis had been carelessly checking him out too so this was hardly a crime. 

"Me and Zayn are just going in now, Liam," Louis mentioned, "You guys have had your turn." 

Harry kind of _really_ wanted to see how Louis looked when he was wet. Maybe in more than one way too. 

Oh no, was this having an impact on Harry's downstairs region? It definitely was. He felt just a tingle, the first warning sign. He had to do something, this was a tragedy. He couldn't pop a boner in front of everyone. 

"That's fine, I'm actually really tired," He hurriedly commented, "Might just head up and change back into my clothes." 

"Aww, Hazza, already?" Liam frowned. "We could all go in?" 

NO. Definitely not. 

"Honestly, I think I've had enough of the water." 

Louis was watching him, arms folded, leant on one hip. He had a stupid smirk on his face. Again, he probably knew that he was the reason for Harry's flustered attitude. 

"Okay, Harry, that's totally up to you." Liam reassuringly smiled. 

Harry was well aware that he was half-hard. Luckily, he had his towel to hang in front of his body, as a subtle defense barrier, and honestly he had never sported a semi so fast in his life. 

"I'm going to go and get dressed, I will be back." Harry realised that his tone was probably coming out a bit monotone and robotic, so put on, and he was relieved when Louis finally stopped looking at him and moved to slip into the swimming pool. 

"Okay, Harry, we'll see you back down here soon." Niall waved. 

Harry half-ran up the stairs, grabbing his clothes from Liam's room, fully hard at this point as his mind ran over again and again how fucking hot Louis and his general body was. God, this was so bad. 

He wanked off in the bathroom, mind clouded with the way Louis had spoken that afternoon, _"you're a dirty boy, huh?"_


	4. Four

Finding Louis Tomlinson's Facebook wasn't such a good idea, as Harry spent a staggering 90 minutes scouring through each and every photograph and status update. His profile picture was absolutely adorable, and containing the gorgeous Zayn alongside him, and the two of them looked like models. It hurt Harry's heart.

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=5djypw)

He concluded that they were both _too_ attractive for it to be fair on his health. How dare they? He was already stressed enough, what with school _and_ work to deal with, and now he had to handle the fact that these two Gods were masquerading around Holmes Chapel (but yeah, Harry still mainly cared about Louis. Zayn was just a good piece of eye candy on the side.)

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=25z5946)

Wow, yet another stunning photo that made Harry convinced Louis was secretly a model. Or an angel. Or both. He wanted to thank, and shake hands with, whoever took this photograph because it surely made his day (and made it into the **downloads** folder on his laptop - shhh.)

Harry's phone vibrated beside his laptop, its screen lighting up to show a text from Liam.

 **Liam:** What are you up to h??

_Stalking your damn brother online. HA._

**Harry:** Just catching up on that biology project. You?

_The lies._

**Liam:** Bored outta my mind buddy. My mum's out and gave me and Lou jobs to do, I've cleaned the entire kitchen and he's just sat in front of the tv doing nothing!!

Harry breathed out a laugh through his nose at the thought of Louis' careless attitude. He definitely seemed like the sort of individual who would happily sit and watch the television, with his feet kicked up, while his younger brother did all of their set chores.

 **Harry:** Harsh. Tell him you'll trash his room if he doesn't help.

 **Liam:** It wouldn't make a difference, his room is a tip already!!!

So was Harry's room, to be honest. There was something Harry loved about Louis' smug, indifferent, half-arse attitude; he clearly didn't give a shit about much. Harry really wanted to see Louis again, but he realised how much he'd been at the Tomlinsons' house in the last week, so it'd probably be a while until he was invited there again. It was a boring Sunday too, the day after the swimming pool conundrum, and so far Harry had only made an effort to go on his laptop. The day was young: it was only eleven o'clock in the morning.

 **Harry:** How are the chores going then? Got a lot left to do??

Harry found his way in. Perhaps he could ask to help Liam, get himself invited round, see Louis, suck his dick... well, minus the final thing, sadly. Although that was definitely on his to-do list.

 **Liam:** Absolute shit-ton left to do. Feel free to come over here and do them for me!! Niall wasn't convinced enough to hahaa

Well. Bingo.

 **Harry:** I could actually come over and help you if you want?

 **Liam:** You don't have to Haz, I was kidding :D

 **Harry:** I know but I don't mind! Seriously, I've got nothing better to be doing.

He really didn't. He had to stop stalking Louis before it went too far, and there was no turning back. Louis may cause him to spiral into insanity, yet he was choosing to see him in the flesh instead. Again.

 **Liam:** You're so cute lil Harry. Why don't you get here at 12ish??

 **Harry:** Deal. See you then!!!

Harry then realised that he had agreed to help Liam with chores. God Damn it, he hadn't thought that part through, he absolutely _hated_ anything that required any effort or willpower. But Louis, so.

* * *

Harry really should have expected something to go wrong. It was Liam's fault. When Harry knocked on their front door, at five to twelve, Louis answered.

He was shirtless, to make matters worse.

All he wore were some knee-length black shorts, and a pair of white socks. Harry wanted to disintegrate, and felt a huge strain to keep his eyes trained on Louis' face rather than trailing down to look at his exposed abdomen (which he really,  
_really_ wanted to look at. He was fighting not to.)

"Harry, what are you doing here?"

 _'Well, Louis, I'm a fucking Jehovah's witness now(!) To see Liam, you fucking idiot, why else?_ ' -- was what Harry was dying to say.

"Oh, Liam just told me to get here at twelve. To hang out and stuff." Harry smiled, trying not to crumble under Louis' piercing gaze. Louis slowly nodded.

"Well, Liam's actually just gone to the shop round he corner, should be back soon." Louis informed him, idly scratching his forearm.

For fuck's sake, WHY? Stupid Liam, why decide to run over to the shop now? Well, Harry was five minutes early, so maybe Liam would be back by twelve o'clock exactly. But still.

"Oh... which shop? I could walk up and meet him halfway." Harry tried. He couldn't just stand here and do all he could not to stare at Louis' body, he needed to find an excuse to leave, fast.

"Or, you could come in, and I could make you a drink like a normal human being should?" Louis raised an eyebrow, a slight hint of smugness behind his smile. Well shit, Harry couldn't exactly turn that down and run off to find Liam instead, could he?

"Sure," He flailed an arm in defeat, "Why not?"

Louis welcomed him inside, shutting the front door behind him. Harry had the opportunity to look at the way the toned muscles flexed on Louis' back as he led him to the kitchen. It was as though Louis stretched his arms overhead on purpose, knowing full well that Harry couldn't take his eyes off that gorgeous back. He wanted to leave scratches down it. His heart was drumming and he hated this silence. The recurring thought that he and Louis were home alone right now was making his head spin. They could do anything and Liam would never know. _Shit. Calm down, Harry. Calm down._

"We have lemonade?" Louis offered, peering into the fridge. "Fruit juice?"

"Anything will do." Harry shrugged, taking a seat on one of the high stools.

"Anything?" Louis smirked. Was he having the same dirty thoughts as Harry? Maybe. Again, Harry couldn't stop his stomach from doing flips. "Then maybe I'll just be mean and give you a glass of tap water."

Harry breathed out a laugh, lightly shaking his head. "You're evil. Oh, and Liam told me you've been sat on your arse all morning and refusing to help him. That makes you even more evil."

Why did Harry go and blurt that out? It was rather confident of him to say anything other than an answer to Louis' questions. Louis smiled to himself while pouring Harry a glass of lemonade, then screwing the lid back onto the bottle and returning it to the fridge.

"I was just giving Liam an example of what _not_ to do when you're asked to clean the house," He smirked, strolling over to Harry and setting the glass onto the table in front of him. "Because I'm such a great brother."

"How humble of you." Harry played along, before taking a long, appreciative sip of the beverage. Louis watched him, quite intently, his eyes following the way Harry's lips curled over the rim of the glass, how his throat moved as he swallowed the liquid. He then seemed to snap out of the daze, very quickly.

"Right, anything else you need?" He asked, distracting himself from looking at Harry by stacking up a few dirty plates around the kitchen and placing them into the sink.

_Your dick, please._

"No, I'm fine, thanks." Harry smiled, taking another sip from his drink. Louis nodded in response, leaning against the kitchen counter. He was evidently experiencing the tension too, having to physically distract so as not to look at Harry. It was incredible.

"Did Liam invite you over here just so you'd help him do the chores?" Louis grilled, pointing an interrogative finger, eyebrows furrowed in curiosity.

Little did he know, Harry was here to see _him_. But he didn't need to know about that.

"Well, maybe? But I won't let him force me to." He grinned, bringing the glass to his lips again.

"Really? I thought you seemed quite submissive."

Harry choked on a mouthful of his drink, quickly wiping some that had dribbled down his chin, trying his best to recover from whatever the fuck _that_ was! Yet another explicitly sexual comment from Louis. This time, Harry wasn't going to take it lightly. He decided to be risky, cheeky.

"Well, I'm submissive when it matters."

Louis' face changed slightly. It was the smallest of changes, a slight raise of the eyebrows and dilation of the pupils, but Harry saw it. And he loved it, he was basking in the reaction. Finally, he had said something that had made Louis flustered! And he was shocked he had even done it.

"Right," Louis nodded, breathing out a laugh. "Uh... yeah, Liam should be back soon."

He wandered out of the kitchen, but before he did so, Harry allowed himself to briefly look down Louis' torso. He saw him do it, and Harry didn't care this time. In fact, it turned him on that Louis saw.

* * *

Harry didn't end up helping Liam at all. He sat on Liam's bed, _watching_ him tidy his room while he rambled on about useless things. It troubled him that he couldn't ramble on about Louis to Liam... seeing as he was his brother. But Louis was definitely the reason for Harry's perky mood, after his reaction to Harry's rather risky and unforseen comment had been so positive - Harry's aim was to make Louis flustered, turned on, or both. The thought that he may have turned Louis on sparked something inside of him.

He unlocked his phone and tapped onto Facebook, spotting a new friend request in his notifications.

**Louis Tomlinson**

Shit! Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Oh God, nothing could compare to the deep feeling of fulfilment that flooded Harry's veins when he set eyes on Louis' name, there waiting to be accepted as a Facebook friend.

He didn't hesitate to accept.

"God, how long's this been here?" Liam muttered, having found a pizza box that had slid beneath his wardrobe. "Gross."

"You disgusting human being," Harry tutted, shaking his head humorously. "How can you live with such filth?"

"Well, I live with Louis, I'm used to living with filth." He smirked, before launching the pizza box into the bin bag. Harry laughed to himself, lightly shaking his head. Any way of shifting onto a Louis-based topic was fine in his books.

"You really do hate Louis. I think he's a decent guy." Harry shrugged, and little did Liam know, he was once again tapping through Louis' profile pictures.

So hot. So, so hot.

Liam reciprocated the shrug, shuffling through several sheets of paper before binning them all. "Try living with the prick."

Harry would happily live with Louis. And marry him.

"You can keep him." Harry chuckled, figuring he shouldn't show too much that he was very much in love with Louis, and wanted nothing more than to live with him. Forever.

Harry's eyes dipped down to concentrate on his phone again. Then his heart skipped a beat in surprise when he checked the five new notifications he had received.

_**Louis Tomlinson** liked 5 of your photos._

Oh God. Louis had gone through Harry's profile pictures and liked each one.

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=4kjkma)

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=jzcxl4)

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=2afmm9l)

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=20k40sn)

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=zyj78x)

Louis had liked all five. Well fuck. The least Harry could do was return the favour. He hurriedly clicked onto Louis' profile, liking the three of his profile pictures. The thought that Louis was probably currently next door, in his bedroom, did something to Harry's body. It made him feel a certain way. Could this be considered flirting? Maybe? Or was Louis just being a nice guy? Maybe he always liked people's photos.

Harry decided to investigate. He clicked onto Louis' friends list and found Niall on it. Interesting. He went to Niall's photos, onto his profile picture, to find that Louis hadn't liked it. Or the next photo. Or the next. No, but he had liked all five of Harry's. It wasn't even like it could have been a mistake, it was a blatant manoeuvre. Harry felt so happy, it was unexplainable.

"What are you smiling about?" Liam sassed. "There you are smiling while I slave away, tidying my room."

"Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry." He dismissed, waving a hand. "Just a stupid tweet I saw."

Quite the opposite, actually. It was quite hot, in a weird way, that Harry and Louis were spamming each other with Facebook likes and Liam had no idea. He hadn't even picked up on any of the tension between them yet, seemingly quite oblivious to it.

Harry and Louis certainly weren't. And Harry was loving the fact that maybe, just maybe, Louis was beginning to come across as a bit playful. Or he was playing hard to get. Either way, Harry found it really hot and it only made him want Louis terribly more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playful, flirty, hard to get Louis is the best Louis.


	5. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO much tension, omg. You're welcome.

Harry was daydreaming about Louis while he sat in his history class. He was mindlessly chewing on the end of his pen, staring intently out of the window on his left. Nothing that had been said by their teacher so far, throughout the duration of thirty-five minutes, had sunken into his mind yet because there was no space for it to fill. It was already crammed with _Louis._ Harry really wanted to be crammed with Louis, literally. _Jesus Christ._

"Harry, what's the answer?" He was suddenly called on by their ancient teacher, Mrs Marshall, sparking him back into reality. And then came the most embarrassing, possibly tragic moment of his whole life. He blurted out the only thing that was on his mind.

"Louis."

It was such a hurried and frantic statement that he was hoping his classmates couldn't comprehend what he had said, however the immediate uproar of laughter contradicted this. They had heard him loud and clear. Harry's eyes shot over in Liam's direction, to find him with an extremely puzzled expression, his eyebrows impossibly low in confusion. For crying out loud, Harry wanted to disappear.

"Alright, settle down!" Mrs Marshall clamoured, using a hand to gesture her command for the noise level to drop. "Clearly Harry needs to learn how to concentrate."

_Damn right._

Liam had only just taken his quizzical eyes off of Harry, after a good half a minute of looking at him, and Harry knew he would probably receive a questioning later. And as normal, Niall was showcasing his 'silent laugh' from across the room, right at Harry. Harry's cheeks were burning. He had never experienced something so comically embarrassing in his life; he didn't think it was possible to blurt out something he was thinking about. But it showed how powerful his thoughts about Louis were. It was just annoying that Liam was there to hear it.

And, not to anybody's surprise, Liam did interrogate Harry, as they sat around the canteen table.

"Why did you blurt my brother's name out in history?" He had a little smile, nothing too serious. Harry began forking lettuce into his mouth faster, a nervous acceleration of consumption, avoiding Liam's eyes as he desperately tried to think of an excuse.

"I forgot his name, was just trying to remember it. I guess it came to me right as Mrs Marshall asked me a question." He satired, instantly wanting to kick himself. What a foolish, slightly harsh excuse! Forgetting somebody's name wasn't nice. Harry always tried to be nice, he _lived_ to be nice.

"You're so mean!" Niall erupted into laughter, a sound that never lacked in any of their conversations. "How did you forget his name? You idiot."

"Yeah, harsh!" Liam taunted. "Wait until I tell him! Maybe it will make him less cocky."

 _NO!_ This had really backfired, Harry didn't want Liam to actually _tell_ him! And it would be particularly embarrassing if he told him that Harry had blurted it out instead of the answer to a historical, educational question! Fuck.

"Dooon't!" Harry whined, tugging at Liam's sleeve. "That's just meeean!"

"It's what you deserve, for treating Louis like a nameless piece of... nothing," Liam smirked, "Although that is pretty much what he is."

He certainly wasn't. He was more a hot piece of eye candy, but that had to stay strictly confidential, forever in the confinements of Harry's mind.

"It's fun to terrorise you, Harry, because you get so annoyed." Niall snickered, taking a bite from his Kitkat bar, without snapping the two fingers apart first. What a genuine _monster._

"You're both horrible to me," Harry put on a pout, "I've learnt to live with it by now."

Harry was hoping with all of his heart that Liam wouldn't bring up the name-blurting incident. But if he did, and Harry was present to receive the embarrassment firsthand, then at least it would mean they would have been invited round. Once again. For Harry's... forth, fifth time? He had lost count by now. He just knew that being friends with Liam could sometimes be a blessing. Sometimes.

* * *

Liam, believe it or not, did decide to invite Harry and Niall round after school. It seemed that now they had been to Liam's house a few times, and knew what to expect (in terms of Louis), that it was their preferred hangout spot. Harry didn't mind that one bit. Plus, he hadn't seen Louis after they had spammed each other with Facebook likes. He loved that it was their secret, unspoken little thing.

Louis' friend Zayn was there too, when Liam led his mates into the kitchen - bonus. It seemed as though they had walked in on the two 20-year-olds being rather childish, trying to see who could throw the most pieces of cereal into a glass from across the kitchen. Harry found himself smiling at their infantile mannerisms.

"Oh, don't mind us," Louis mused, squinting with one eye as he aimed the piece of cereal, before launching it. It successfully landed in the glass, with a delightful tinkle sound. "Get in!" Louis yelled in celebration, loudly high-fiving Zayn.

Why in the world was Liam's mum or dad never home? Harry hadn't even met them yet, and it seemed Louis was left in charge most of the time. This wasn't good, not at all, despite him being twenty years old. Harry liked the fact that Louis had a young soul, it was quite attractive. Better than him being all boring and mature.

"Can you move? You're in my shot." Zayn snapped, when Liam had stepped between him and the glass so he could open the curtains at the side of the room, letting in a stream of light. Liam rolled his eyes at Zayn.

"Can you move? You're in my home." He sassed, grabbing the glass and tipping it upside down above the bin, so the contents rained into it. Harry and Niall laughed quietly at their friend.

"Boring!" Louis mocked, crossing his arms and jumping up onto the bar stool near the table. "You need to learn to lighten up a bit, little brother."

His eyes finally found Harry, after having been off him for a good two minutes, but the look was very brief. Sadly. Louis could pretend not to look, but he couldn't pretend he hadn't liked five of Harry's pictures - BOOM.

"Oh, Louis, Harry forgot your name."

There it was, Liam had remembered the iconic line. Ha ha, very funny. Harry shook his head, lightly laughing and looking down. "No I didn't."

"What?" Louis asked, quite baffled. There wasn't much humour in his tone, expressing that maybe he was quite _hurt_ by it?

"Nothing, it's--"

"He told us that he couldn't remember your name and only remembered after thinking all throughout our history lesson." Niall cut him off, sneering smugly at Harry. "Isn't that right, H?"

Louis' eyes fell onto Harry. There was intrigue behind his eyes, as usual when he looked at Harry, but evidently some disappointment there too. Was he really that bothered that Harry had 'apparently' forgotten his name?

Harry didn't even know how to reply, so he just repeated the exact same gesture of laughing nervously to himself. Zayn was the first to laugh seriously, a sharp laugh.

"Well, I think it's safe to say _Eleanor_ knows your name, Louis, yeah?" Zayn dropped a wink at his friend, before slouching over the kitchen counter and childishly reenacting one of Louis and Eleanor's sex scenes. "Uh, uh, uh, Louis! Fuck me, Louis!" He put on a high, girly moan, dramatically jolting his body forwards a few times, before cackling wildly to himself and slapping Louis on the back.

Harry felt he had gone red, because he had. Niall laughed along with Zayn, Liam looked _more_ than embarrassed, and Louis shut his eyes and breathed out a laugh.

"You're an idiot, Zayn," He chuckled, punching him on the arm. "But completely right. My name is all she can think about when I'm fucking her."

 _Why did Louis then look_ straight _at Harry? Holy shit, he couldn't take this, the thought of Louis in bed was something he tried to graphically imagine whenever he was lost in thought, and it turned him on to the point of no return._ Louis most likely saw the flustered look on Harry's face, a smirk rising on his own.

"Who are you fucking then, Harry?" He grilled, biting on his lower lip slightly, so that Harry literally wanted to die there and then. _Fuck this. Fuck it._

"His hand." Niall commented, before everybody _but_ Harry burst into loud laughter. God, this couldn't have been any worse, he wanted nothing more than to sprint out the front door and never return. Louis' gaze was too compelling.

"You're _sooo_ funny!" He sarcastically muttered, rolling his eyes. (But it was true, what Niall had said, because Harry was a sexually frustrated boy who really, really needed to stop thinking about Louis. 24/7.) "No I don't."

"He's _way_ too innocent for that," Louis cut in. 'Innocent', once again! It was used by him far too often for it to be a mistake. He knew exactly what he was doing.

"Innocent." Zayn repeated, humorously, crowing what Louis had just said.

"Maybe you just don't know me." Harry shrugged, smiling slightly. He was trying his hardest to boost his self confidence once again, fed up with people always using him for a laugh.

"Yeah! Harry's pretty wild!" Niall joked. "Sometimes he even uses his left hand!"

Then came the laughter again, everybody but Harry, who let out an annoyed groan but couldn't restrain the smile from Niall's ridiculous commentary. But then Zayn had to step it up a level, making Harry feel a little bit too uncomfortable.

"What, does he finger himself with his left hand?"

Harry's mouth dropped open, sucking in a gasp, while Niall stuttered out a shocked laugh and slapped a hand over his mouth at Zayn's comment. Louis had stopped laughing altogether, with the slightest, playful smile on his face, chest slightly bobbing in a silent laugh. His eyes had seemed to darken, just slightly, and Harry hated this. That was probably one of the worst things Zayn could have said, with Harry being gay, and nobody quite knew how to react. Harry decided to respond first, trying to make light of the situation.

"Yeah, obviously."

He was relieved when the laughter continued, that he had saved the awfully awkward moment slightly, but Louis was still watching him closely. It was a look that Harry couldn't quite work out, but he got a slight _turned on_ vibe. Had what Zayn said turned him on? Holy shit, what if it had turned him on? Harry felt speechless, unable to even look back at Louis, scratching his arm nervously. But they were wrong - really. Harry had never even tried fingering himself, although it was a curious thought he often had. Was just wanking ever enough? Especially with the recurring thoughts of Louis.

"Come on, that's enough of that. Let's go upstairs," Liam broke up the banter, pushing Harry's shoulder to lead him out of the kitchen door. "Come on."

Louis' eyes finally left Harry, as he no longer had a choice, Harry leaving the room with his friends.

_Shit. Again._

* * *

"I'm sorry about Louis and Zayn, Hazza, it's not fair of them to pick on you like they were." Liam apologised, a bit later on, while he was running his finger over the spines of all of his Xbox games. "They're always doing that, saying stupid things, to me most of the time."

"I don't let things like that bother me, don't worry." Harry shrugged. But he did. Things like that bothered him a _lot_ , especially when Louis Tomlinson had been around to hear the comment -- and proceeded to look rather turned on.

Liam pulled out the brand new **Fifa 18** , before strolling over to his television and tapping on the button which opened the disc tray.

"Good." He mumbled in response to Harry, placing the disc into the console before closing the slot again. He collected two Xbox controllers from his desk, then bent down to search underneath the desk. "Where's my third one?"

"Don't ask me," Niall retorted, continuing to scroll through his phone, casually lounging across Liam's bed. Liam rolled his eyes at Niall's mediocrity. Then he groaned aloud in annoyance suddenly, shutting his eyes and tipping his head back.

"Louis has it, I let him borrow it yesterday because he's a fucking tosser and managed to break his." He realised. "Could one of you just go and grab it while I clean this disc?"

 _NO_. Harry definitely wasn't going to hurry to volunteer himself. It had been bad enough being in Louis and Zayn's presence in the kitchen, let alone going out of his way to knock on Louis' bedroom door. No way in hell was he going to do that!

"I'm watching thiiis!" Niall droned, his eyes glued to his phone screen. "So I vote Harry."

"Fuck off," Harry protested, "I don't want to. Why can't you, Liam?"

"Because he'd never give it to me, just because he hates me. If you ask, he will probably give it to you." Liam explained, delicately cleaning the disc with the inside of his t-shirt. "Please, Harry? I'll let you have first pick on teams when we play."

Tempting. Very tempting.

"Fine," Harry gave in. "Which room? And what do I say?"

"The room to the left of mine. Just say 'Liam wants his controller back'." He blandly instructed, not sparing Harry a glance. Harry nodded, proceeding to swiftly leave Liam's bedroom.

 _Why in the world had he agreed to this? For fuck's sake, it was a habit of his to get himself into stupidly awkward situations. That was plain obvious by now._ He stopped outside Louis' door, bracing himself. He could subtly hear chatter from the other side, unmistakeably the voices of Louis and Zayn, and he really wanted to turn back and run into Liam's room. But then again, all he was doing was asking for something that belonged to Liam. How bad could it be?

He clearly knocked, three times. A moment of silence arose, before Louis spoke up.

"Come in."

Harry pushed down the doorhandle, opening the door into the room. It was pretty obvious they had been smoking in there, with the obvious hint of heavy cigarette smoke lingering in the air. Louis' room wasn't too messy, but not tidy either. The curtains were closed, leaving the room pretty much dark, and Zayn was lying on his stomach on Louis' bed while Louis span idly on his swivel chair. A smile, quite a welcoming one, was on Louis' face when he saw Harry there.

"What can I do for you, Harry?"

_So, so much._

"Umm..." Harry was stuttering already. Fuck his anxious self. "Liam was wondering whether he could have his Xbox controller back?" He decided on a polite request, knowing if he had used Liam's rude suggestion of _'Liam wants his controller back'_ then he would come across as disrespectful. He never wanted that.

Louis stood up, with an over-perfected groan, folding his arms as he looked Harry over.

"And what will I get out of it?"

 _Good God, Harry's mind exploded with so many filthy things he could give Louis in return for that controller._ His cheeks tinged pink, trying to hold back a flustered smile.

"I... I don't know."

"Maybe you could finger yourself and let Louis watch." Zayn broke in, with a stark laugh. Harry shut his eyes that time, breathing out a laugh mixed with a sigh, while Louis... looked quite turned on. Again. Holy shit.

"Very funny," He sassed, "Could I have the controller?"

Louis strolled over to his desk, which was completely full of clutter, and picked the controller up from amongst the rubbish. He waved it around at Harry, a smirk present.

" _This_ controller?"

"That... seems to be the controller." He clarified, unable to hide the little smile that broke through. "Could I have it, please?"

"You really want it that _bad_?" His voice did that agonising thing where it dropped a tone, becoming low and alluring, and Harry felt like he could literally cum in his underwear if this went on any longer. God, he wanted it. Not the controller, however, but something else that Louis had to offer.

" _Really_ bad." Harry matched Louis' previous tone, provoking the older male to raise his eyebrows suddenly in surprise. Maybe arousal. Harry loved the impact he had.

"Woah." Zayn chuckled. "He wants it really bad, Louis. You better give it to him."

Louis held out the controller. "Yes, I will give him the controller now, but I'll give a little something else to him later."

_Fuck me. GOD, Louis._

Harry was red again, he just knew it, what with the heat prickling the skin on his face. He took the controller from Louis, who seemed a little bit too reluctant to let it go, holding the contact with Harry for a good five seconds.

"There you go, little Hazza."

"Thank you." He smiled, so glad to feel that stupid lump of plastic in his grasp. He could finally scamper away back to Liam's room.

"Anytime, babycakes." Louis winked, blatantly _WINKED _, before turning away from Harry to return to his seat.__

__Harry practically did the 100m sprint back into Liam's room, overwrought with sexual tension._ _


	6. Six

Due to Harry's presumed _'lack of attention'_ in his latest history class (because of Louis hottie Tomlinson), Mrs Marshall had decided rather unpretentiously to set him a one-thousand-word essay that outlined what he had missed during that hour. And it made him hate her impossibly more, because he had foolishly left it until the last minute the night before it was due, meaning he didn't drag himself into bed until gone _midnight_. He was completely shattered, lying in an undignified position, sprawled out pathetically as though he had been limply thrown down there.

And he should have slipped into basic comatose from there, but his racing mind didn't allow it. It only took moments for him to be rolling over and unplugging his phone from charge. He was browsing his Facebook feed within minutes, trying to ignore the biting thought that maybe he was just a _bit_ of an addict when it came to his phone. But if somebody were to dangle his phone _and_ Louis Tomlinson over the edge of a cliff, he would undoubtedly rescue the latter. Louis meant more to him now. Just thinking about Louis, and the sexual comments and eye contact he had been making, was enough to send shivers of excitement through Harry. He constantly couldn't wait until he saw Louis again.

Louis, quite possibly, found him sexually attractive - or he was at least a little bit curious about him, in that sense. But then again, he also had a girlfriend, plus he was Liam's older brother. This part of the situation was the one main thing that deterred Harry from being hopeful about any future sexual advancement. Was getting fucked by Louis too much to ask? Apparently it was.

He visited Louis' Facebook page, as he was thinking of him, to see that he had posted a new photo. _Thank fuck!_ Harry's happiness levels increased by about quadruple. It was a sweet, brotherly photo with Liam that he had posted, in which it seemed plainly obvious that the two of them were only temporarily pretending to like each other for the sake of a good photograph.

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=jil7qu)

_Fuck,_ Louis looked good. Harry liked the way his hair was gelled back slightly, that was sexy. But then again, when _wasn't_ he sexy? Every fucking thing he _did_ was sexy.

Harry didn't hesitate to press the like button on the photo, figuring his backup excuse could be that Liam was in it, and Liam was his friend, so he liked it for that sake -- not because Louis looked one thousand percent fuckable and Harry wanted to leave love bites down his neck. _Definitely_ not.

Then he _really_ wanted to write a comment beneath it. In fact, the urge to leave a comment was eating him alive, wanting to do anything to gain Louis' attention again. He figured that he could probably get away with referencing to Liam in said comment - right? He tried it anyway, spontaneously typing away.

_Harry Styles: 'Woah, looking rugged there....Liam that is ;) #hesgrowingup'_

He didn't realise how flirtatious it sounded until he had pressed send, and now the comment was published and he was internally freaking out. Why had he decided that adding '....Liam that is' would be a good idea?! Let alone the fucking winky face emoji! He was honestly a total idiot. A complete and utter idiot. Now it looked absolutely blatant that he was flirting with Louis! And anybody who clicked onto Louis' photo would be able to see it.

He contemplated deleting the comment. That would only make it more suspicious, so he left it right there. Louis replied to his comment within the next ten minutes, and Harry spent a further five minutes on top of that trying to convince himself to check what it said.

_Louis Tomlinson: 'Maybe he could teach you a thing or two then ;) #babyfacedharry'_

Well then. Louis had returned the winky face emoji in a semi-appropriate manner, after an attempt to insult him, if "baby-faced" really was classed as an insult? It could have been a compliment for the future, being told he had a youthful face, but he was only seventeen now and needed to stop thinking about every little detail of every little thing so much.

Should he reply again, and add a response to Louis' comment? Or should he not? Should he?

His thumbs hovered over his phone screen, mouth pouted to the side as he tried to think up another witty add-on to the mini comment war. He didn't think he could really top Louis' comment.

_Harry Styles: 'You're actually older though, Liam is an imposter who's trying to act old when he's not. Maybe you'd be better at teaching me a thing or two.'_

For the second time that evening, Harry pressed post without even thinking through the underlying interpretation his comment could have. What the _fuck_ in his right mind told him that telling Louis he would be better at 'teaching him a thing or two' would be appropriate at all? It basically screamed: _'please sleep with me.'_

For fuck's sake, **why** was Harry such a literal mess? The tension between he and Louis had already peaked enough without these stupid comments, what with Louis' statement just yesterday of: _'Yes, I will give him the controller now, but I'll give a little something else to him later.'_ That still made Harry shiver to recall, holy shit.

Louis took a couple of minutes to write his comeback comment. It was killing Harry, he didn't know why he had gotten himself into this shit when he should have been going to sleep.

_Louis Tomlinson: 'We will see ha ha, go to sleep hazza :)'_

Harry smirked to himself, deciding to simply press the like button on Louis' comment and not answer to it this time. He was over-analysing what Louis had said though (as usual). _'We'll see'_... hmm. That sounded pretty damn promising. Harry was hoping Louis would teach him a thing or two some day... _sexually._ Hell yes. He would just have to see.

Okay, that was enough for today. Harry locked his phone and put it onto charge, knowing that he would get too excited and stalk through Louis' Facebook again if he stayed on it.

* * *

It was ironic how, because Harry had stayed up significantly later to complete Mrs Marshall's assignment, he was even more distracted in her class the next Friday afternoon due to being utterly _exhausted._ He had to continuously strain to keep his stupid eyelids from drooping shut, and had been all day, but maybe the reason for that was really because he had been lying awake after setting his phone down that previous night, just contemplating every tiny thing about Louis. He mainly envisioned sleeping with Louis, touching his hot skin all over, passionately kissing him. And Liam had no idea his best mate felt this way towards his brother. It was kind of hilarious really.

When they had left their history class - their final lesson of the day - with Mrs Marshall mildly happier after Harry had handed in that stupid essay, Liam got talking about Harry and Louis' little comment war as they headed out of the school building. It was hardly surprising that it would get brought up.

"Thanks for calling me rugged, by the way," Liam smiled to himself, "I haven't been trying to grow this beard out for nothing."

"You're welcome. And you're lucky you can even grow facial hair, have you seen Niall and I?" Harry exclaimed humorously, framing his completely hairless face with his hands. Really, he was trying to steer the conversation away from the comments he had been exchanging with Louis, but it didn't work too well.

"You do know, some of the things you were saying sounded _really_ wrong. Like about Louis teaching you a thing or two, did you not realise?" Liam chuckled, as they all jumped into his car after locating it in the packed car park.

Oh no. At least Liam assumed Harry had done it mistakenly -- _HA, he hadn't._

"Oh, did it?" He played along, trying to retain his cheeky grin. "I didn't even realise. Well, I didn't mean it like that."

"Good. It'd be weird otherwise." Liam commented, suddenly sounding a lot more stern than a few moments before. Man, he really did not like any talk of his friends being close with Louis whatsoever. Harry had experienced that for the first time after Niall had jokingly said Louis had a thing for him, when they had been waiting at the bus stop, and Liam was quick to shut it down.

"It definitely would be." Harry lied. It was a lie _because_ he didn't think it weird to imagine himself in a relationship with Louis. He just needed to keep Liam convinced that he didn't have a thing for his damn brother.

Liam turned on the radio, at a boring volume compared to how loudly Louis had blasted it in his own car. They were queued up behind every other car trying to leave the school car park, right in the heart of the congestion.

"Hey, Liam," Niall spoke up suddenly from the back seat, "We haven't been to your house for, like, a day. That's _loads_ of time away from our new hangout spot."

It was a lot of time away from seeing Louis, in Harry's books. Maybe it was better for his health not seeing Louis, but he was such a sight for sore eyes after a heavy day at school.

Liam breathed out a laugh in response, as he finally reached the exit of the school and turned out onto the road. "Is that your way of inviting yourselves round?"

Harry didn't need much convincing to tag along. To be honest, he didn't know why Niall wanted to go to Liam's particularly, as it wasn't massively interesting when they did, activity-wise. Harry had a feeling Niall liked it there so much because of how humorous Louis always made it.

"Seeing as you're so kindly inviting us round, we will gratefully take your invitation." Niall smirked. "Thank you, kind Sir. Tomlinson."

Liam rolled his eyes in response. People often rolled their eyes when Niall was involved, it was in his nature to say ridiculous things.

Louis' car was parked on the driveway when they pulled up to Liam's house. Oh no. Although Harry pretty much knew Louis would be there, it was still nerve-wracking every time he had to see him. He was too hot to be anything _close_ to casual around.

"Afternoon, lovelies." A friendly woman greeted when they entered the house. She looked a lot like Louis. Harry figured out quickly that they were finally meeting Liam's mum. "I'm Jay, Liam's mum."

They politely introduced themselves to the welcoming woman, whose smile didn't fade throughout the introductions. It made Harry wonder how Louis had ended up as such a dickhead when his mum and brother were so nice. But Zayn hardly seemed like a good influence to begin with.

Liam offered his friends a drink in the kitchen, which they courteously accepted. Harry could hear Louis talking in the hallway, to his mum, and he was holding his breath with anticipation knowing he would have to behold the beauty of him soon. Overdramatic? Probably.

Harry placed his empty glass down onto the countertop just as the kitchen door swung open. Louis casually strolled in, giving an almost _smug_ look towards Harry.

"Have you two moved in yet? You seem to be here often enough." He joked, opening the fridge. Harry waited for Niall to answer, as usual, too afraid to do it himself despite being so forward online.

"We're moving in tonight," He went along with the joke, so a smirk stretched onto Louis' face.

God, Harry wished they _were_ moving in tonight. The thought of living under the same roof as Louis 24/7 was very delightful indeed.

Louis closed the fridge without taking anything from it, leaning against the counter by the side and crossing both his ankles and arms.

"You might as well be moving in, huh, Harry?" He smiled genuinely this time, although he was clearly restraining it from turning smug. Harry frivolously laughed in response, eyes dipping down to look at his feet. "So fucking shy, aren't you?" Louis whispered, almost inaudible.

Harry shrugged, but really it was his way of agreeing. He definitely _was_ shy when it came to Louis.

"What are you guys doing, then?" Louis nosily continued, jolting up from his leaning position to casually stroll to the space behind the three of them. He was looking in a cupboard, Harry assumed, but he was too timid to turn around and see for himself.

"Well, we _were_ hoping to avoid you." Liam commented, sassily. "But it seems as though that's impossible."

"I didn't know I was so unwanted," Louis laughed from behind them, his voice projected away from them slightly as he faced the cupboard which he was looking in.

_Louis definitely was not unwanted. Not a single bit. Harry wanted everything he had to fucking offer._

"You've been unwanted since birth. Go away." Liam snapped. Savage.

"No need to be rude, little brother, you only had to ask politely for me to leave." Louis sang, mockingly.

 _As he passed by the three of them from behind, his hand unmistakeably skimmed over Harry's bum._ Harry sucked in a small gasp of air as it happened, his heart jumping at the sudden feeling, which lingered for a split second _too_ long to be accidental. He felt like his heart was soaring with optimism. Louis had just touched him on his arse! This was revolutionary!

Harry immediately whipped his head in Louis' direction, cheeks reddening and just quick enough to catch that Louis' face was completely stern after doing it.

Holy shit. Well...

Nobody else noticed. Louis had done it so discreetly, yet so intentionally, that Harry felt like he couldn't breathe. All of his wildest dreams seemed to be coming true: Louis had touched him rather intimately, whether or not it was very brief, whilst leaving the room. But his monotone facial expression foretold that perhaps it _was_ an accident, as much as Harry hoped not. Or he was being cocky as hell, playing a good game of hard-to-get. It definitely seemed so, with the constant sexual comments yet no advancements... probably because he had to be mature in this situation and be the adult by not initiating anything with Harry. It would definitely be frowned upon by Liam if he tried something.

Harry wanted nothing more than to run after Louis and have him touch him a little more. It wasn't _enough_ simply having his bum skimmed over by Louis' hand, he needed Louis' hands to _grab_ him. Take him. His sexual frustration was seething, dangerously close to overflowing, and he needed more so badly.

"Do you guys want to stay the night?" Jay asked, after poking her head through the kitchen door. "I've got some vouchers somewhere so we can order some pizzas."

Well, that definitely sounded good. Harry was well up for sleeping in the same house as Louis -- although the same _bed_ would suit him a lot better.

"Uh... sure." He shyly agreed, smiling politely, while Niall exclaimed 'hell yeah, pizza!' in a far less chivalrous way. Jay grinned brightly at the two of them before nodding to herself and leaving the room again.

"Eww, who said I wanted you two infecting my house overnight?" Liam joked, pretending to scrunch up his nose in disgust.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Having me here overnight will _bless_ your damn house." Harry smirked, ruffling Liam's hair violently, to his dismay. "We appreciate it, Li. We can all paint each other's nails and tell ghost stories!"

Liam and Niall burst out into upbeat laughter.

"Exactly!" Niall agreed.

Harry was really just looking forward to Louis being around the whole time. He would be just next door while Harry was sleeping in Liam's bedroom. _Shit._ He would definitely have to restrain himself from running in their in the night and literally jumping on Louis. To be honest, he wouldn't be surprised if he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the next chapter will be their lil sleepover ;) poor sexually frustrated Harry. I don't blame him though because Louis is just somethin else, damn, he needs to stop playing around (I say that even though I wrote it, what am I hahaha)


	7. Seven

Harry hadn't the faintest idea why he had agreed to stay over Liam's house. It wasn't like he was in a position to say no, since Liam's mum had been so nice to ask them specifically whether they would like to, and he was too polite to decline the offer. Niall seemed ecstatic about staying the night, ranting on and on about all the things they could do, while the three of them sat in Liam's bedroom and waited for their pizza delivery to arrive.

"Niall, we _do_ know have to start work tomorrow morning at half past eight, in case you forgot." Harry reminded him. He knew that he would be absolutely exhausted getting up at seven the next morning to get ready for work.

"We can just call in sick!" Niall grinned, continuing to try on each and every one of Liam's snapback hats, which were hung up on pegs along his wall. Harry rolled his eyes, both at Niall's response _and_ action of squinting at himself in the mirror whilst modelling a bright red cap with _New York_ stitched across it.

"Calling in sick seems to be your motto. I think it'd be a little bit suspicious to Ed if all three of his only Saturday employees threw a sickie." Liam disputed, strolling over to Niall in three strides and tearing the hat off him. "And leave my hats alone, you prat."

Harry laughed brightly at their interaction, laying back against the headboard of Liam's bed and crossing his legs at the ankles, hands clasped behind his head.

"Alright, Liam, no need to be a bully. Your hats look _great_ on me, so I'm going to assume you're just jealous." Niall smirked, ruffling Liam's hair before falling back onto his swivel chair.

"Yeah, I'm completely jealous," Liam shot back, sarcastically, shaking his head and smiling to himself. "Couldn't stand seeing how great you looked in it."

Liam's bedroom door flew open all of a sudden, and Louis casually strutted in. Liam groaned in hatred.

"Fuck off, you prick."

Louis ignored him and smirked instead, and then his eyes fell onto Harry, who was still laid back in a stupidly relaxed position along Liam's bed.

"You look comfortable, Harry." He teased. Harry immediately shot into a sitting position, crossing his legs and placing his hands into his lap with a timid smile. Louis looked as though he loved how flustered he had made him, a celebratory glint in his eye.

"Why are you in here? What do you want?" Liam grilled, grabbing a rolled up sock from his bedroom floor and launching it at his older brother, hitting him on the collar bone.

"Calm down, I only came in to tell you the pizza is here. Unless you don't _want_ it?"

 _Harry_ wanted it. Not the pizza, but something else altogether. 

"Oh, yeah, we'll be down in a sec then." Liam dismissed. "Bye, Louis."

"Bye, you virgin." Louis mocked, before unceremoniously ambling out of the room with a slam of the door. Niall immediately cackled out his habitual laugh, head dipped slightly and clutching his stomach.

"'Bye, you virgin'," He restated, "He's so fucking funny!"

"He's not, you just find everything funny." Liam stubbornly said, folding his arms. "Anyway, pizza."

* * *

Harry felt self-conscious eating in front of Louis. He was constantly wiping around his mouth with the end of his sleeve, vigilant of any food around it, trying to eat in an urbane manner. Niall, on the other hand, was cramming slice after slice into his mouth, talking with his mouth full, with pizza sauce smeared around his lips.

He was mainly chatting to Louis, who only had one slice of pizza. Harry wished he was brave enough to talk to Louis himself, but all he could really do was wait for Louis to mention _him._ He hated how shy he constantly was, although it was something that was only brought on by Louis' presence.

"Eleanor's coming over in about ten minutes." Harry heard Louis mention to Niall, when he tuned in. _For fuck's sake._ He couldn't stand seeing her cuddle up to him. He wanted that to be him.

"As long as she isn't staying the night. You always seem to forget how much your bed creaks. And your headboard bangs against my wall." Liam scoffed, before proceeding to fabricate a gag. Harry too felt sick, but more with envy. It felt like his insides were twisting up with intense jealousy. He didn't want to be listening to this. Why did he have to be so damn attached to Louis already?

"Well, she likes it rough, so it's her fault not mine." Louis' eyes immediately set on Harry. _Oh, for crying out loud, Harry was going to implode if Louis kept looking his way after making such a suggestive comment._ Harry tried to stare back momentarily, a doe-eyed stare, but it only took a couple of seconds for him to grow timid and divert his gaze away. He was sure he heard Louis breathe out a laugh in response.

 _Harry wanted so desperately for Louis to be rough with_ him. _He'd give anything for it._

"You're gross," Liam finally replied, "We don't want to hear about your sex life."

"Then don't _listen_ when I fuck her." Louis smiled, sweetly but sassily. Liam looked clearly _done_ with him but ceased to argue further anyway. It was beginning to become very clear why Liam never wanted his friends to know of Louis: he was a cocky bastard, over half the time.

When the doorbell rang, not too long later, Louis sprang up from the sofa to go and answer the door. Harry really wanted he and his friends to run off back to Liam's room, but Liam seemed too set on finishing the last of his pizza while ogling over the television. There were really no means of escape - Harry would just have to face Eleanor again. Ugh.

She erupted into the room moments later, a smile beaming at the three of them. She greeted them all, using the iconic 'hi, Liam's other friend' when she met Niall. Harry tried not to be too enthusiastic, only giving one simple wave and smile. She was rambling on about whatever Harry hadn't a care for. Louis, as usual it seemed, was paying more attention to his phone screen than what she had to say. Harry liked that.

"Louis, am I not interesting enough for you?" She retorted all of a sudden. His head rose quickly to meet eyes with her.

"Sorry?"

"Seriously, Louis? You're always on your stupid phone whenever I'm round here lately. What's changed?"

Liam, Harry and Niall were very awkwardly witnessing the argument, trying to pretend they were watching the television, but ultimately more interested in their dispute.

Louis' response to Eleanor's question was a childish shrug, before returning to his phone.

"You are ridiculous, Louis Tomlinson." She muttered. "Can we go somewhere else and have a talk? I don't want to be arguing in front of Liam and his friends."

Louis sighed and slid his phone into his pocket, agreeing and leaving the room with her.

"Doesn't seem like she _is_ gonna get fucked tonight, eh?" Niall attempted to brighten the situation. 

Liam rolled his eyes. "You're wrong, actually. It just seems he's even rougher with her after they've argued, so that means even _more_ noises from his room."

Fuck. Harry didn't think he could take hearing about that anymore. It turned him on beyond belief, just thinking about how fast Louis must fuck.

They stayed there and watched the television for a little longer, then Niall decided he would help Liam clean the plates, which Liam collected up and took out to the kitchen to wash them up. Harry was awkwardly waiting in the living room, hoping with all of his heart that one of his two friends would return before Louis and Eleanor did, wondering why he hadn't just gone with his friends. He basically couldn't be bothered. 

And he was never lucky enough for anything to go his way, so he wasn't alone for long.

Eleanor returned before anybody else did. She stormed in and plopped back onto the sofa, a scowled frown evident on her face now. She huffed loudly, and it was quite evident she was waiting for Harry to ask her what was wrong. He felt like he had to.

"Are you okay?" He asked, nervously picking at his nail.

"Not really, if I'm being honest with you," She shrugged, with a sigh. "Louis is being a knobhead and I don't know why."

Harry loved to hear that Louis wasn't being too great today. It was selfish of him, but he _wanted_ them to have relationship problems.

"Why's he being a knobhead? What's he done?" Harry quizzed, loving how he was delving into their dilemma just because Eleanor found him innocent enough to trust. There were perks of appearing shy and lovely to people.

"He's suddenly told me he wants to go on a break with me, like a temporary breakup. But I'm pretty sure that's just his way of putting it kindly, and really doesn't want to be with me _at all_ anymore." Her voice wavered slightly, as though she was close to tears, and Harry's natural caring side took over. He rushed to his feet and by her side, enveloping her in a warm hug. Even though he barely knew her, and was rather envious of her, it really was in his nature to sympathise with people.

"Bless you, darling." Eleanor's mumbled into his shoulder, appreciating the embrace. "I think a hug's what I needed, really."

"Louis seems... stubborn." Harry commented, keeping the volume of his voice low. "I can tell that already, and I've only known him for about three weeks."

_Wow, he had already known him for three weeks._

" _So_ stubborn. He's always being careless towards me and blatantly ignoring me." Eleanor confided, finally releasing Harry from the hug. "Maybe I'm better _off_ without him, I don't know."

_Yes! Bingo!_

"Maybe you _are._ Some people just aren't meant for each other, I guess." Harry snidely remarked. Deep down, he was really selfishly hoping she was about to accept the breakup. It would make Louis single, that was enough for him.

"I think I'll just head home now. He's too moody to even leave his room now, I'm fed up with it," Eleanor got to her feet, scooping up her jacket from where she had thrown it onto the sofa upon arrival. "Thank you for understanding, Harry. You're so very sweet, you know that? Don't let Louis influence you."

 _Harry_ wanted _to be influenced. Badly. Damaged._

"I won't. You're welcome." He smiled, dimples indented in his cheeks, accepting the hair ruffle from Eleanor before she bid him farewell and left the room.

Well, this all seemed to be going swimmingly. Now all Harry had to do was get into Louis' underwear -- which was very impossible at this point, considering how shy he constantly was. Niall and Liam returned in the nick of time, completely unaware of what had happened moments before, chatting away about some school gossip. Harry should have felt left out, but nothing could overpower the sheer satisfaction he was already consumed with.

* * *

Before agreeing to stay over, Harry really should have considered a few things. One of these things was that, the later it got, he had a tendency to become rather horny. Well, it was normal for a teenage boy, but it was more overwhelming when Louis Tomlinson was just next door. Single. Alone. _Hot._

Niall and Liam were playing a game of _Call of Duty_ , and the time was approaching half past eleven in the evening. Harry's mind was a whirlwind of hormones, thinking of various scenarios involving he and Louis, if he were to go next door right now. It was too much to handle.

And, _thank God,_ Liam allowed Harry a moment which he couldn't have even dreamt of. He asked him to go to Louis' room to retrieve something, almost a rerun of when he had gone to get the Xbox controller, but this time minus Mr Zayn.

"Harry, would you mind going to Louis' room and getting my phone charger off him? We're in the middle of this and I'm pretty sure we'll have to head to bed soon if we're getting up for work tomorrow."

 _Oh no._ Harry wasn't usually a pushover, never close to one, but he allowed to be when it came to visiting Louis' room.

"What if he's asleep?" He worried, but contradicted the reluctance by getting to his feet.

"He won't be asleep, don't worry," Liam dismissed, "Thanks, Hazza, I appreciate it."

Harry took that as his cue to leave the room. He went to Louis' door and really didn't want to knock. His arm seemed to be frozen in fear, refusing to lift so that he could make his presence known. Before he could even knock, however, the door flew open as Louis was about to casually leave. He almost jumped out of his skin to find Harry stood there.

"Jesus _Christ,_ Harry!" He exclaimed in shock, placing a hand over his racing heart. "You scared the shit out of me! What are you doing?"

Louis was smiling, despite the snappy tone in his voice. Now Harry felt like an idiot because it looked fully as though he was stood out there listening into Louis' room or something.

"Sorry! I was just going to ask you for Liam's charger!" Harry explained, nibbling nervously on his lower lip. Louis seemed to briefly watch this action, before returning to reality.

"Okay, come in." Louis welcomed. "It's messy, I apologise."

Harry timorously followed, feeling as though he were walking straight into a trap - one set by his own stupid hormones. Louis' room had untidy piles of clothes strewn about the place, random items scattered around, and Harry found himself immediately looking at the bed. The headboard, as Liam had expressed, was set against the wall dividing their bedrooms. All Harry wanted at that moment was to push Louis onto the damn mattress.

"Take a seat if you want, I've got to find the stupid thing first." Louis muttered, beginning to lift objects around the room to try to scope out the charger.

Harry didn't know why Louis couldn't just bring the charger next door in his own time, instead of having Harry sit in there with him. Harry was hoping it was because Louis liked the tension just as much as he did. It ate Harry alive. He perched himself on the edge of Louis' bed, folding his hands in his lap as he watched Louis.

"What're you guys up to now, then?" Louis casually made conversation as he continued the search.

"Liam and Niall are playing Xbox." Harry summarised, feeling like his voice came out so small and shy whenever he was speaking to Louis. It was a reflex by now. Louis stopped searching for a moment, turning to look at Harry, who felt scrutinised beneath his gaze.

"They're not leaving you _out_ , are they? Are they letting you play, too?" He interrogated, eyebrows slanted in concern. Harry's heart could have exploded due to how adorable that was, Louis' worry. He cared about him... a lot, it seemed. Well that was a bonus.

"No, no, no," Harry quickly reiterated, vigorously shaking his head, "We're all taking it in turns. I-It's just their go right now." The stutter. The fucking stutter had returned.

Louis fondly smiled to himself, nodding before going back to looking. Harry kind of never wanted him to find what he was looking for, so he could watch him forever.

"Sounds boring, though. Surely you'd wanna be doing something more _fun?_ " Louis rose an eyebrow, side-glancing at Harry and making him blush. He couldn't help but take everything Louis said in a dirty way. Yes, he'd rather be doing something more fun: _Louis._

"Yeah, well, maybe they're just boring." Harry tried to muster an innocent smile, tilting his head to the side slightly. He knew how irresistible his purity was to Louis so he tried to showcase it whenever he could.

"Shame." Louis laughed, before exhaling loudly. "Yeeeah, I can't find Liam's charger."

He gave up, falling back into a chair in his bedroom with a huff. Harry laughed at that, then began to wonder whether now he should go back to Liam's room. He had no idea what to do, but Louis didn't seem to be set on finding that phone charger anymore.

"Should I... go and tell him that?" Harry slowly asked, pointing a thumb awkwardly towards where Liam's room was. Louis' eyes fell onto him, and he squinted slightly.

"Stay here if you want. I'm more fun than Liam is." His voice had dropped the tiniest bit, to that low tone that he used so well, and Harry immediately blushed as he took it the wrong way.

"We're just sat here, how is this fun?"

"We could make it--"

"Harry, where are you?" Liam's voice echoed through the wall, cutting Louis off. Harry had only just realised what Louis was so close to saying, and he swallowed thickly.

"I should go back now."

"Yeah, you should." Louis lightly smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, Harry."

"Yeah, see you." Harry fumbled to his feet, stepping over the clothes on Louis' floor and making his way to the door. He returned to Liam's room with a thudding heart.

_Was Louis really about to say 'we could make it fun'?_

* * *

The time on Harry's phone read **03:35 a.m**. He was wide awake, hearing the soft breathing and snores from his friends as they lay sound asleep. He was lying on his back, arms out straight beside him, trying so hard to just close his eyes. All he could think about was Louis, plus the fact that he really needed a drink of water.

He sat up with a heavy breath, plagued by the thought that he had to get up in just three and a half hours. It wouldn't be surprising if he didn't sleep until then, at the rate things were currently going.

But he really _did_ need a glass of water right now, to the point where his throat hurt due to its dryness. It was a little awkward venturing downstairs in the middle of the night at Liam's house, but it had to be done. He couldn't stand it anymore.

As silently as possible, he threw his blanket off himself and got to his feet. It was almost completely pitch black in the room, with the exception of the lamppost outside Liam's house bleakly shining through the thin curtain. Harry made his way out of Liam's bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind himself, glancing longingly at Louis' bedroom door before pushing to go down the stairs.

The house was eerily quiet, and he felt like each step he took echoed a bit too much. He was too scared to put a light on, knowing it may shine beneath somebody's bedroom door and wake them up, so he left them all off until he reached the kitchen. He clicked on the light in there and hurried to grab a glass from the cupboard he remembered stored them, running the tap and pouring a stream of water into the glass.

The satisfaction of just that simple glass of water wasn't something that could be described. It immediately soothed his throat, revitalised his mind. He figured that maybe his dehydration was the factor keeping him awake, not so much the crippling thoughts about Louis Tomlinson.

Harry drew another glassful of water from the tap, gulping it down faster than the first, before placing the glass into the washing up bowl in the sink. He headed back towards the door, but as he opened it, so did somebody else from the other side. Harry felt like he had experienced a heart attack at that moment, 100% ready to ward off an oncoming attacker, but to his luck it was just Louis. _Just_ Louis, no big deal...

"Fuck!!!" Harry whispered loudly in terror, jumping back slightly to see Louis stood there.

"Holy shit, you swear?" Louis breathed a laugh. "Sorry for making you jump. We really need to stop scaring each other, huh?"

Harry lightly laughed to himself and shook his head in disbelief. "Yeah, I guess we do."

"What are you doing down here so late? Everything okay?" Louis asked, entering the kitchen, meaning Harry did too, instead of leaving as he had intended.

"I'm fine, I just really needed a drink." He truthfully told, nudging his head towards the sink, rather uselessly, as though Louis didn't know the process of making a drink. Harry was a flustered idiot.

"That's exactly what was on my agenda," Louis smiled, retrieving a glass of his own and filling it with water. "I guess we're both as thirsty as each other."

Harry was so _sexually_ thirsty, it was ridiculous. And Louis' constant attempts at sexual jokes really wasn't making it any better. He let out a giggle in reply, which he hadn't intended to be so sweet, but it made Louis grin widely. He took a long swig of his water.

"I kind of broke up with my girlfriend yesterday," Louis broke in, pouring the rest of the water down the plughole in the sink. "And it's on my mind."

Why did he have to tell Harry this? He began to feel like a therapist, as though everybody had the same idea to come to him with their problems. He'd always been like that, to be fair.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear about that." He apologised. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'd appreciate talking about it with somebody. Even though it is 3 in the morning and you're my little brother's friend." Louis chuckled. "Let's sit?"

Harry shouldn't have gotten himself into another situation like this, but he agreed and took a seat at the kitchen table with Louis. Why was he doing this?

"Just... rant away."

"Basically, I'm not in love with Eleanor anymore. And I don't know why, it's a recent sort of thing, the attraction has just completely diminished and I feel kind of bad about it." Louis explained, idly massaging his temples. "Sorry for throwing that all at you."

"It's fine, no worries. So... You've broken up with her?" Harry was pretending not to know, when in actual fact he had been told this firsthand already by Eleanor just yesterday.

"Yes," Louis stated. "And now I just feel so frustrated with myself, do you get me?"

"Completely." Harry nodded, diverting his gaze aside when he linked eyes with Louis. He couldn't look into those blue eyes, it was a very deadly move to make.

"You know when you just feel so frustrated that you want to fuck someone _really_ hard?"

Harry's heartrate plummeted, and he let out the loudest and most involuntary gasp yet, before feeling totally foolish for doing so. It was just so unexpected, the way Louis had said it so causally, and Harry's head was spinning. Louis looked smug over the reaction.

"Well, not really," Harry bashfully said, "But I'm sorry you're feeling... that frustrated. I hope that passes."

 _Harry wanted to scream 'Fuck me! Literally just use me!' but he bit his tongue so hard._ He was surprised that he supressed it, as usually he said the stupidest things in the middle of the night.

"Me too." Louis laughed. Harry felt like this was a strange dream, like he could say anything and get away with it, and this caused his mouth to speak before his brain could process what he was saying.

"D'you want me to give you a blowjob?"

He couldn't believe his own ears. He had blurted out one of the most obscene things he could have at that moment, and he watched Louis' reaction; his eyes widened, mouth dropped open, and he loudly gasped.

"Harry... you _really_ shouldn't be asking me that, okay? I'm twenty and I'm Liam's brother. Just... _fuck,_ go back up to Liam's room now, go on."

"I was joking, by the way." Harry quickly uttered, his heart thumping, legs like jelly as he quickly stood up. "I didn't mean it."

"Okay, Harry."

Harry had never been so red in his entire life. The sheer embarrassment racing through him was too much to handle.

"I'm sorry." He rushed, before hurrying out of the room.

What a fucking idiot he was! Oh God, how could he have been so stupid? It was a completely inappropriate thing to say, despite Louis' many sexual references and glances in the past. Maybe he had been doing all of that for fun, to make Harry uncomfortable and to provoke a reaction. Maybe he really didn't like Harry at all, but instead liked messing with him.

Harry felt like crying as he returned to Liam's bedroom, laying back down and curling in on himself. His throat was dry once again, this time from approaching tears, and he buried his face into the blanket as the hot tears came. He didn't know why he was crying, when it had been his own fault for blurting out something so dumb. What was he thinking?

He heard Louis' bedroom door open and shut a few moments later. He wanted to go next door and apologise again, and reiterate that it was a joke (even if it wasn't). The way Louis had sparked into immediate maturity practically highlighted the fact that he was only messing with Harry for a good reaction. Harry felt so ridiculous. God, he really did want to give Louis a blowjob, that hadn't changed at all.

And he still really liked Louis. So, so very much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well damn. Stupid move Harry?
> 
> Or is it just helping him for the future? ;)


	8. Eight

Liam's excessively deafening alarm clock shrieked on his bedside table as it struck seven o'clock the next morning. A chorus of groans from the three of them immediately emitted from around the room, and Harry was pretty sure his was the loudest as he was tormented by the flashback of what had happened last night with Louis.

 _'D'you want me to give you a blowjob?'_ For fuck's sake! What was he thinking?! He really did blurt out nonsense when it was late at night.

"Turn it off, Liam! You're about to wake the whole fucking village up!" Niall complained, his voice rough with tiredness. Liam repeatedly hit the top of his alarm clock, each strike seeming to do no justice in ceasing the screeching.

"I _am_ trying, Niall!"

Harry had his hands pressed tightly around his delicate, still-adjusting-to-reality ears, which were being violated by the piercing sound.

"Turn that _fucking_ thing off!" Came an engaged yell from Louis' side of the wall, spurring Liam on to hit the alarm clock with more brutal force, finally stopping its noise. 

Simply hearing Louis' voice again made Harry feel nervous. He didn't ever want to be seen by him again, _never_ again, after the compromising comment he had divulged just hours ago. It wasn't possible to go back in time and take it back now, he'd just have to live with it.

"I hate my brother," Liam grunted, falling back onto his bed again. "He's so moody. It's not my fault an alarm clock has to be loud enough to wake people up."

"I'm really considering calling in sick now, by the way." Harry mentioned, the nauseous feeling very much due to thoughts on what Louis now thought of _him._

"Come on, let's get up and try to encourage each other." Liam incentivised, swinging his legs over the edge of his bed and jumping to his feet. "Let's go, lazy arses! On your feet!"

"Nooo," Harry deeply groaned, rolling onto his stomach and digging his face into his pillow, "I never want to get up again. Leave me be."

_He really didn't want to get up again._

"Haaarry!" Niall sang, crawling over to him and climbing right onto his back, sprawling himself out on top of him. "Get uuup!"

"Get off." Harry snapped, trying to shake him off using his shoulders. "You fat shit, you're squishing me."

"I am offended!" Niall faked a scoff, but couldn't help letting out a little cackle to follow. He couldn't stay serious for long. He stood up and relieved Harry of the weight that had been on him.

As overdramatic as it sounded, Harry felt completely empty with regret that morning. He wished he hadn't said something so intimate to Louis; wished he had stayed comforting and attentive instead. Although he did try to stress to Louis that it was a joke after saying it, and Louis had responded with _'Okay, Harry'_ , he still felt so deeply embarrassed and humiliated with himself. He couldn't read Louis' mind, but right now it was all he wanted to do.

Jay loudly asked across the hallway whether Harry and Niall would like to stay another night, after work, loudly enough (annoyingly) for Louis to have probably heard from inside his room. Harry hated being put on the spot.

"Uh... I'm actually not really feeling like it, but thanks for the offer."

"Why, Harry?" Niall gaped. "Come on, we could stay up even later tonight!"

Harry had already stayed up late enough in the kitchen with Louis. He couldn't be in the house with him again.

"Yeah, at least think about it." Liam smiled. "Please? You've got the day to think."

Harry sighed, "Okay. I will."

His friends momentarily rejoiced, but Harry was almost certain he would end up turning the offer down again.

As their work uniforms were already waiting for them at the bakery, they didn't have to spend _too_ much time getting ready. As it was very early on a Saturday morning, Harry was happy that they didn't run into Louis somewhere in the house before they left for work. He couldn't face it, especially considering mornings in general were already bad enough.

 

The day went by slowly at work. They only had three customers between the times of half past eight and ten o'clock, and had all spent a majority of the time messing around together when they could get away with it. There was a rather eventful run-in with a lady who could only be described as a cougar. And of course, Harry had been serving on the till when she decided to come in.

"Okay, that will be two pounds and fifty pence, please." Harry declared, idly swaying on the spot as the woman he was serving gave him a rather sultry look, eating him alive with her eyes.

He had always been a catch with many of the women he served at the bakery, despite only being seventeen years of age, and what could perhaps be described as _baby-faced._ His eyes were large, green and endearing; lips plump and pink; hair curly and tousled -- apparently that's what women wanted, given the number he attracted. This lady in particular must have been at _least_ in her mid-forties, dressed in a tacky, leopard-print, faux fur jacket, with her hair tightly curled, and face plastered in makeup in a monumental attempt to look younger. Harry wasn't one bit fooled by those lined lips.

"Here you go, my love," She grinned, handing over a ten pound note, "You go to school around here, do you?"

Harry could practically sense his friends' amused eyes on him, watching the interaction with maximum humour, restraining their laughter.

"Yeah, H.C.C." Harry bluntly replied as he picked out her change from the till, still keeping that unintentionally charming smile on his face, which was all a part of his customer service. He watched as the woman's eyes flicked over to Liam and Niall too.

"Do all the boys working here have to be handsome?" She raised her eyebrows suggestively, eyes diverting between them. 

Harry awkwardly laughed, but completely ignoring what she had said. "That's seven pounds and fifty pence change, and your receipt."

The bell above the door rang, and Harry's heart started hammering to see Louis casually strolling in. Probably the worst time too, but at least the woman causing a bit of drama took the tension from last night off Harry's shoulders a little bit. Louis leant on one hip and crossed his arms, catching on to the fact that this lady wasn't planning on leaving just yet.

"You're very handsome, aren't you?" She cooed to Harry, making him flush red now that Louis was witnessing it. "Do you like older women? We've got all the experience, some may say."

"You _do_ realise you're trying it on with a 17-year-old, right?" Louis broke in, urging the lady to turn dramatically his way, with an audible clank of several metal bracelets on her wrist. She looked slightly caught off-guard, having been called out on her creepy approach.

"I wasn't trying _anything_." She defended, scooping up her purchases quickly and avoiding looking Louis in the eye again. She said no more, hurrying out of the shop with her head ducked in shame. Immediately, the bakery was filled with Niall and Liam's bright laughter. Harry was a crimson shade, looking down at the till to avoid looking at Louis, as much as he wanted to thank him for ridding of the sex fiend of a woman from moments ago.

"Oh my God, she was the most forward one yet! You're always attracting them, Harry!" Niall erupted, clutching onto Liam's arm as he continued to cackle away. "She would have jumped right over this counter if Louis hadn't turned up."

"Yeah... thanks for the save, Louis." Harry timidly piped up, glancing up briefly at him. Louis' hands were in his pockets, head tilted aside with a humoured look on his face.

"Anytime, you pussy magnet."

Harry blushed impossibly harder, having to smile it off in embarrassment as he looked down and shook his head.

"He literally is." Liam chipped in, patting Harry's back. "Too bad you'd rather dick, huh?"

 _For fuck's sake, Liam._ Again, Harry wanted to kill him. He was always put in these compromising positions, especially when Louis was stood watching. Harry caught Louis' reaction, which didn't consist of much: the slightest eyebrow raise. It was now out there that Harry preferred dick, but Louis had probably gathered that from Harry's so-called 'joke' last night. It was probably obvious now that he was being serious when asking Louis.

"Thanks for that, Liam," Harry rolled his eyes, slapping Liam on the arm.

"Anyway," Louis broke in, in a tone that was almost carried out in song as he diverted onto a new topic, "As usual, I'm just checking you're all working your hardest."

"Just tell me if it's mum who sends you here every week lately. I'm pretty sure it is." Liam groaned, kicking aside an empty cardboard box which had made its way into the middle of the floor.

"No, I'm just a caring brother." Louis widely smiled, although it hid a cheekiness within it too that Harry liked. Louis knew full well that he was a pretty shit brother. It was quite laughable.

"Whatever." Liam waved a hand, strolling off into the stockroom. "Niall, help me get the boxes back here onto the shelves." He called out.

_NO. DON'T, NIALL. DON'T LEAVE ME WITH HIM ALL ALONE._

"Okay." Niall called back, before following Liam through that door and out of the main space.

Just Harry and Louis stood there now. Nothing could put into words the absolute devastation Harry felt, having once again been left completely alone with Louis Tomlinson. He wanted to die.

"Well... hello there." Louis filled the silence first, followed by a rather _nervous_ laugh.

"Hi." Harry attempted to muster his best _casual_ smile, but he knew it had come out looking forced more than anything else.

Louis' eyes were deeply fixated on him, so clearly the staring thing hadn't changed after the situation last night: Louis was still content with staring and making Harry squirm.

"About last night..." Louis continued, but Harry was quick to interject before he could continue.

"It was a joke. Again. I don't want it to be a big deal."

"Okay, okay, that's what I was going to say anyway. Let's forget about it, because I'd be lying if I said I wasn't awake for ages after that worrying about it." Louis admitted, awkwardly pouting his lips aside. "I felt really guilty for making you feel awkward. Despite it being a joke anyway."

Harry felt something in his heart when he realised Louis had been awake thinking about the ordeal. He had been too.

"It shouldn't have been taken so seriously. It's forgotten, starting from now." Harry blurted out. Louis smiled in amusement.

"Okay, Harry."

Harry really needed to stop thinking about sucking Louis' dick, while that was exactly what he _shouldn't_ have been imagining. It was just so fucking hot to think about, and seeing Louis in the flesh didn't exactly help.

"You're staring." Louis mused after a moment, making Harry want to kick himself. For goodness sake. "What are you thinking about?"

_Sucking your dick. What else?_

"Nothing." Harry rushed, and maybe he added in a flirtatious tone without intending to. He tried to bite back a smile.

"It wasn't a joke last night, was it?"

Harry tensed, his fingers clasping tighter around the string-tie on his apron. He was frozen in place, thinking of what the most suitable answer should consist of: 'Yes, it was a joke.' He threw all of his cares to the wind and responded just how he shouldn't have.

"No, it wasn't."

"Is that what you're thinking about right now? Sucking my dick?"

Harry inhaled sharply, a wave of arousal flooding through him. Louis had taken the situation one step further, despite his attempt just last night to be mature and divert the conversation. Harry was lost for words, his response an idle bite of his lower lip.

"Yeah." He whispered. The sound of the stockroom door swinging open prevented any further conversation, and Liam strolled out whilst clapping together his hands to rid of the flour. Harry's heart was thudding, and Louis' face had changed in interest, but it was nothing Liam could detect.

"Why are you still here, you tramp?" He snapped at Louis, disgust flashing across his face. "You'll contaminate all the food."

"Funny," Louis kidded, rolling his eyes. "I was just leaving, actually."

He met eyes with Harry briefly. Hidden in Louis' gaze was a glint in his eye, a sparkle of interest that had Harry's insides churning. Was Louis giving in?

"I'll see you guys later. If you've changed your mind and are coming round after all, Harry?" There was a playfulness behind Louis' tone that made Harry's stomach flip. The sexual tension had returned, as thick and heavy as ever.

"I think I might." He smiled. Liam cheered, oblivious to the fact that his best friend and brother were practically fucking with their eyes, sheerly just happy that his mate wanted to stay another night.

"Yay! That's more like it, H!" He ruffled Harry's hair, while Louis made a quiet retreat from the bakery.

* * *

Harry was overwhelmed with excitement as he followed Liam and Niall into the former's house, at around twenty minutes past four. The comment from Louis earlier had really brightened his spirits. All he had thought about for the rest of his work shift was how he could give the best blowjob possible, because it's all he wanted to do now with Louis. Fuck.

"Why are you so happy suddenly? Let me guess, is it because that old man earlier let you keep the penny change?" Niall joked, as the three of them headed up to Liam's room.

"Yes, Niall, obviously," Harry played along, rolling his eyes. "No, I've just brightened up, that's all."

"I'm glad to hear it. We don't want Harry _boring_ Styles here, we want Harry the pussy magnet." Liam remarked with a smirk, earning himself a scolding look from Harry.

"Shut it."

Harry didn't see Louis again until almost _bedtime._ It seemed he had been out up to that time, and arrived home to find Liam and his two friends in the living room, in amongst a mountain of pillows and blankets.

"You've made a right old mess, haven't you?" He kidded, tutting in disapproval. Clearly, his eyes remained on Harry throughout what he had to say. "Are you guys heading to bed soon, or what?"

"We're sleeping here," Liam informed, from where he was buried in a thick blanket. "And it's only, like, midnight. Why would we sleep?"

"I don't know, maybe to revitalise yourselves. You're young, you need to sleep to grow. Anyway, I'll be in my room... if anyone _needs_ me."

He looked right at Harry, whose heart pretty much exploded upon hearing that. The emphasis on 'needs' had his pulse racing. He was aiming that at Harry, effectively telling him to not hesitate to come up to his room.

_Fuck. Harry was stuck in a difficult position as he tried to ponder whether this was the real reason._

Then it was all declared to him, as Louis shot him the quickest, most seductive wink he had ever seen.

Harry felt chills run through him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well shiiiiiiiiiiit


	9. Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies if there are any errors!! I will fix all tomorrow morning because I am exhausted!

Harry's pulse had been thick in his veins the moment Louis had left the room. That _wink_ he had dropped before swiftly exiting the room, the blatantly haunting wink that seemed to be sent Harry's way, had managed to stir Harry's mind into a frenzy of craziness. It had sent hormones flying through him at record speed, caused the dirtiest thoughts to cross his mind, involving he and Louis.

His two friends still seemed to be hooked on the rather tedious movie on the TV, unmoved by how generally seductive Louis had just been (which was probably because Liam was Louis' brother, and Niall was straight, but whatever.) Harry was paying even _less_ attention to the television than before, preoccupied by the thought of sprinting up the stairs after Louis and quite literally rugby tackling him down onto his bed.

Well, Harry was having these sexual thoughts, yet he knew he'd never be brave enough to follow through with them. He had never done anything anywhere near sexual with anybody whatsoever - the extent of his sexual adventures entailed himself plus his hand plus five minutes of alone time. Nothing ever outside of those boundaries. But with Louis, he wanted to do it all, to push out of the frigid phase he was in.

But he was shy. Constantly. Despite that comment he had made about giving Louis a blowjob, followed by admitting the next day that it wasn't a joke - that was reasonably brave of him to do.

He realised that he didn't really want to end this night having not _tried_ something on with Louis, however being sat in Liam's living room with he and Niall didn't exactly help him move forward with his urges. He had to think on his feet, come up with a plan that might just be crazy enough to work.

He left it a further five minutes before turning to look over at his two friends, whose eyes were still glued to that screen.

"Hey, Liam?"

Liam hummed in acknowledgement yet kept his eyes fixated on the film, letting Harry know he was listening but not exactly interested in what he had to say.

"I know this is random, but could I use your shower?"

It would get him upstairs at least. And the second part of Harry's plan was knocking on Louis' door and asking him to help with how to operate the shower. Bingo.

"Umm... mate, it's quarter to one in the morning. Why on earth would you shower now?" Liam cackled, his full attention on Harry now following the bizarre request. Harry felt wholly foolish for asking something so ridiculous, but it had to be done.

"Because I feel as though I still have flour in my hair from earlier. Last time I slept with flour in my hair, I woke up to it all clumped together and horrible." What a terribly brilliant excuse Harry had improvised on the spot. He wanted to clap himself on the back for it, or buy himself a meal at a classy restaurant.

"Ah yeah, you are always getting that in your hair, aren't you?" Niall chipped in, an amused grin lighting up his face.

 _Yes, Harry was. And as Louis had once said, it was because he was a very_ dirty _boy._

"Yeah, I understand, go ahead and use it, H. Just use my shampoo that's in there." Liam waved a hand, as though he were a magic godmother granting Harry the wish of using his shower. "But try to be quiet, yeah? My mum'll be sleeping now."

Harry felt accomplished, nodding along to Liam's rule, bringing his phone with him and heading out of the living room. _What on earth was he doing?_ No doubt would he absolutely chicken out of asking Louis for help getting the shower to work, especially if he got upstairs to realise how easy it was. That'd surely be an obvious incentive to get Louis' attention.

He used the torch on his phone to guide him through the dark house, all the lights turned off because they should have really been asleep, and jogged light-footed up the stairs. Beneath the door of Louis' room shone light, showing he was still awake in there, and Harry wanted to smile about it. All he wished to do was run in there and _have_ Louis, but he was sane enough to push that thought aside. He headed into the bathroom, the sound of the rope switch loud as he switched on the light. He set his phone down safely on the windowsill, peering over at how complex the shower system was.

He was genuinely confused by it. No word of a lie, he could not work it out. There were three metal knobs, each one with an unknown function, and Harry scratched his head, dumbfounded. It seemed as though asking for help would be a necessary move. But he didn't want to just knock on Louis' door and ask, so he settled on dropping him a quick Facebook message, really hoping Louis wouldn't ask him why he didn't ask Liam instead.

 **Harry Styles:** _Hi Louis it's Harry (obviously). I'm in the bathroom trying to turn on the shower, have no idea - help!!_

He hit send, biting nervously on his nail as he waited. Why was he so worried? It was just a genuine question, right? Even if he _was_ using it as an excuse to talk to Louis again, so late at night.

The small icon of Louis' profile picture appeared beside Harry's message, showing that he had read the message and was currently on their conversation, and Harry's heartrate dipped. A moment later, the dark hallway outside the bathroom was flooded with momentary light as Louis opened his bedroom door, strolling across the hallway to find Harry leaning awkwardly against the sink (maybe trying a bit _too_ hard to look cool and casual.)

Louis had this stupid, cocky smile on his face as he stepped into the bathroom. "Why on _earth_ do you want to shower at this time?"

Harry breathed a laugh, awkwardly shrugging before replying anyway. "Just need a shower. Don't like sleeping when I haven't had one."

Louis' stare always proved too much. And his hair was so sexily messy, as though its style deteriorated the later it got, and Harry really wanted to see how it looked in the morning.

"Fair enough," Louis shrugged, walking over and perching himself on the edge of the bathtub. "This dial on the left turns the water on. Middle one is the rate the water comes out at, so if you want a lot of water, you turn that up completely, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"And the dial on the right is temperature. Best to keep it halfway between the middle and the hottest." Louis explained, with another smug smile. He probably knew, very deep down, that Harry was only showering so he would get this explanation. He did genuinely need a shower, but having Louis explain it was a bonus.

"Thank you." Harry smiled, dimples prominent.

"That's everything, yes? You don't need me to teach you how to shower, do you?" Louis joked. Harry would love for him to teach him that, but he had to keep his wild thoughts tamed for the time being. He decided to go along with the joke.

"Exactly. And how to take my clothes off." _Damn it. Fucking Damn it! Yet again, another dirty comment had slipped out without the greatest intentions._ He hadn't even intended for it to be dirty, he was playing along with Louis' joke regarding how clueless he was about showering in a new home. For fuck's sake. "aaand that came out wrong."

"Wow, you sure get wild past the midnight hour," Louis smirked, still having not moved from his sitting position on the side of the bath, "Does Liam have any idea you're upstairs asking his brother how to remove clothing?"

Christ. If only he knew.

"He'd be _so_ disappointed in me." He giggled, knowing full well that was the laugh that came out when he was in a flirtatious mood: the giggle was unleashed. Louis smiled at it, clearly, before crossing his arms and smiling tenderly at Harry.

"What are the three of you up to now? Have they headed off to sleep yet? I known Liam's quite a lightweight when it comes to staying up late." Louis informed, raising an eyebrow. Why was he still sat in there? Harry was going to pounce on him if this went any further. It was a dangerously tense situation.

"They're watching a very boring film, wrapped up in blankets, probably very close to falling asleep." Harry divulged, picking at his nail to avoid meeting Louis' gaze.

"Bit boring for you, hmm?"

"Yeah, exactly. Probably the best time to have a shower." Harry hinted, unable to withstand their one-on-one interaction for any longer. He was dying to question the wink Louis had left him with.

Louis didn't take the hint, continuing on anyway. Perhaps he was lonely at this time of night and wanted somebody to talk to, seeing Harry as a suitable candidate.

"Showers are probably best the later it is, actually. It's easier to sleep when you're refreshed."

Harry wanted Louis to refresh him in a whole other way. That'd surely help him sleep.

"Why did you wink at me earlier?" The question slipped out, much like the blowjob request from just a night ago, and it couldn't be taken back then. Louis looked rather taken aback by Harry's intrigue, eyebrows shooting upward.

"I... when?"

"As you left the living room, like half an hour ago."

Louis seemed to be deep in thought, trying to conjure up a meaningful explanation.

"Have your shower now, Harry." He responded, beginning to take to his feet again. But before he could walk out the bathroom door, Harry shocked _himself_ and Louis by shutting the door, preventing Louis from leaving just yet.

"When you've answered me."

Louis' eyes widened, a smug smile crossing his face. "Holy shit, look who's found their voice!"

"Louis, I'm being serious. Why do you keep doing things like that to me? The wink, the staring, the comments... why?" It all erupted from Harry in one big blurt, eyebrows knitted together in frustration, hand still pressed against the door so it remained shut. 

Louis smiled again, and left a short silence before speaking. "Because... I like messing with you."

Harry wanted to slap him.

"So... you think making me insecure and uncomfortable is a good way to mess with me? You think making me _actually_ believe somebody is truly interested in me, is funny?"

Louis looked slightly shocked by Harry's suddenly emotional turn in the conversation. His mouth was hanging open, contemplating what to say to fill the gap.

"I... Harry, I'm sorry. Why don't you think anybody's ever interested in you?"

Harry dipped his gaze to the floor, childishly shrugging. "I mean, I dunno. I guess I'm just... quite _sexually_ insecure, and if anybody ever takes an interest in me then it's something that's always on my mind. Feeling wanted like that, I dunno."

"Well, maybe I didn't mean that. I don't just want to mess with you, I guess I need to grasp onto any sense of maturity I have here, Harry. I'm Liam's brother, it's not like I'm some random stranger you can just get off with."

"Forget this even happened. I'm showering now." Harry dismissed it, shaking his head and letting go of the door, effectively setting Louis free. But Louis wasn't planning on walking out just yet - no.

"Have you ever done anything sexual before, Harry?"

Harry's breath caught in his throat upon hearing it. His eyes shot over to look at Louis, who gazed back intently.

"N-No," He stuttered out, swallowing thickly, "Never."

"Then why did you want to give me a blowjob?"

'Did'? Hell, Harry still wanted to, and he always would. He couldn't quite believe Louis was bringing this up again, but he wasn't complaining.

"Because I really want to." Harry was only digging himself in deeper, feeling his cheeks flushing a pinkish hue following the confession. Something had changed behind Louis' eyes, an almost sincerity, pupils dilating.

"But you have no experience. Surely you'd be too scared." Louis' voice had dropped in volume, face unreadable. Harry was starting to see something coming out of this and it made him densely shiver.

"I'd try my hardest. I'm a quick learner." Harry threw every care to the wind, trailing his tongue out along his lower lip before sinking his teeth into it. Louis watched the action intently, evidently gulping in response.

"You want to suck my dick right now?"

" _Fuck_ yeah." Harry whispered, arousal pooling within him, seeing nothing more to do than truly go for it. He didn't care if he'd embarrass himself anymore, no longer thought it mattered how nervous he was; all that mattered was the way Louis' eyes clouded over with lust. Nothing more.

"Umm... well..."

"Well, what?" Harry cooed, with the best example of puppy eyes he could muster on Louis. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know if it's a good idea on my part. I feel so bad."

"Louis, I'm seventeen, I'm not twelve." Harry reminded, tilting his head to the side. "I'm starting to think maybe _you're_ the one who's scared here."

Louis wiped a layer of sweat from his forehead, very quickly, refusing to meet eyes with Harry. He was most likely shocked by Harry's suddenly seductive mannerisms.

"I'm Liam's older brother, and I'm twenty, this isn't good. Know that I really, _really_ want this, I just know I shouldn't."

Harry felt like a whole new side to him had taken over his body, pushing aside his flustered, gawky self and putting in place somebody who shone confidence. He dropped to his knees all of a sudden, directly in front of Louis, satisfied to hear a large intake of breath from him, completely unsuspecting to what had just happened. Harry gazed up at Louis from where he knelt in front of him, looking up innocently through his long, dark eyelashes.

"Just because you _shouldn't_ , doesn't mean you _can't_." He purred, lifting his hand to press directly onto Louis' crotch. Louis' breath audibly hitched due to the sudden contact, however he didn't make a move to push Harry's hand away.

 _"Harry,"_ He tried to scold, leaving his hands at his sides anyway, glancing down at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Think about what you're doing right now."

"If I do, it'll make me _really_ fucking hard." He claimed, while maintaining the intense eye contact, beginning to slowly palm Louis through the material of his grey sweatpants. "So maybe I will."

Louis hummed out a long, low moan all of a sudden, head tipping back and eyes fluttering shut. Harry bit his lower lip and grinned at the reaction, his stomach stirring with adrenaline, unable to believe he was being so confident as to initiate this, continuing to slowly roll the heel of his palm over Louis.

"Shit, Harry." Louis breathed, bringing a hand up to run slowly down his face, almost in stress from enjoying this so much. "Are you sure you've never done this before?"

"I promise." Harry grinned, increasing the friction over Louis slightly, so this time a sharp moan left his mouth. Harry's stomach pooled with arousal because of that noise. "Good?"

"I think you can _feel_ how good I think that feels." Louis purred, his voice dropping down to that low tone which Harry always awed over. And it was true: he could feel Louis hardening beneath his touch. It made him want to cry, due to how indescribably hot he found that, the fact that he was making Louis erect. He wanted to step this up a level.

He replaced his hand with his mouth, leaving a wet, open-mouthed kiss over the growing bulge, so a wet, darker grey mark was left over the material where he'd kissed. Louis breathed out a wavered moan, not hesitating to firmly card a hand into Harry's hair, gripping onto the strands. The feeling of Louis pulling his hair, the sounds he was producing, the way he continued to harden, was driving Harry crazy. He couldn't believe what was happening right now. He continued to mouth over the bulge through the fabric, all while he felt his own cock hardening, restrained within his pyjama bottoms.

"You really want that dick, don't you?" Louis coaxed, voice remaining low and taunting. "Do you want this fucking cock in your mouth?"

"Yeah..." Harry breathed, licking one thick, long stripe over where he could see Louis' dick resting against the fabric. "Please, Louis, give me your dick."

"Take it out, you dirty fucking boy." Louis panted. Harry really could have done with a bucket of fucking holy water thrown over his head at that point, overwrought with arousal, breathing uneven as he hooked his fingers beneath the waistband of the sweatpants.

He pulled the garment down, at a painfully slow pace, moaning aloud when Louis' dick sprang up, full and heavy, to bob against his stomach. It was the most perfect looking dick: very favourable in size, with a beautifully pink head and a bead of pre-cum at the tip. Harry sucked in a breath before wetting his lips, glancing up at Louis again, almost for further permission.

"Go on, Harry." He persuaded, voice coming out as a soft hum, pupils dilated. Harry retained the eye contact as he wrapped his hand around it, beginning to very slowly wank him off. "Yeah, just like that."

Harry held Louis' dick by the base before licking along the underside, a flat-tongued lick that reached the head before slowly swirling around it.

"That is fucking filthy, Oh my God." Louis cursed, planting both hands into Harry's hair. "Keep going, you're doing so well."

Harry enveloped Louis' dick in his mouth, hollowing out his cheeks and letting Louis slowly move his hips forward, groaning low in his throat as he was encased in the hot, wet mouth of Harry.

"Holy shit, that feels amazing."

The dirty comment spurred Harry on to begin bobbing his head up and down, holding the base in his left hand as he frantically pulled out his own dick with his right, slowly stroking it along with the movement of his head. Louis gripped particularly hard on Harry's hair all of a sudden and pulled him even further onto his cock, so the tip brushed the back of Harry's throat and caused him to sharply cough and draw his head off quickly to splutter into his hand.

"Sorry, baby, are you alright?" Louis cooed, followed by a sharp moan as Harry answered the question by returning Louis' dick into his mouth, moaning seductively around it and taking it into his mouth once again. "You dirty boy, do you like me choking you with my cock?"

Harry moaned even louder around Louis, head desparetely rocking up and down and throat opening to take in as much as he could. Louis took it as a yes, once again gripping into Harry's hair and this time proceeding to fuck lightly into Harry's mouth. Harry gagged slightly with each movement, as Louis hit the back of his throat with every thrust, but refrained from lifting his head again. He wanted to make Louis feel as good as possible.

"Taking it so well," Louis praised, voice raspy with arousal. "Such a good boy. Look at me, Harry."

Harry did as he was told, lifting his face slightly while still sucking expertly, large, green eyes startlingly innocent as they gazed up at Louis. Louis' response was to shake his head, unable to believe how hot Harry was making this.

"Can I fuck that pretty mouth of yours?"

Harry nodded frantically, twisting his head side to side as he took Louis' dick in and out. Louis gripped the sides of his head now, steadily, before beginning to thrust rhythmically in and out, at a staggering pace. An even louder gag emitted with each thrust, Louis reaching deeper into Harry's throat with every one, and Harry felt his eyes starting to water from what he was taking. Louis was letting out one long, quiet moan that wavered slightly with every thrust, watching Harry's face carefully as he tried to handle the face-fucking.

"Yeah," Louis panted, pausing and pulling his dick out to allow Harry to breathe. A string of spit trailed from the head to Harry's wet bottom lip, which hung down from his top lip, waiting for Louis to press his cock back inside. " _So_ fucking hot." He breathed, slapping his dick against Harry's waiting tongue.

Harry's tongue sticking out was a request to feel Louis' cock against it again, and it was granted as Louis slid it inside once again. Harry moved faster now, along with jerking himself off along to it, a strain in his neck from how quickly he was bobbing his head. Louis' head tipped back again, breath speeding up, chest rising and falling, fast, and Harry could just see how close he was. And so was _he_ , feeling that familiar bubbling feeling in the pit of his stomach as he neared orgasm.

"Want your cum all over my mouth," Harry requested, after removing Louis' dick and beginning to stroke it speedily. "All of it."

"That sounds good to me," Louis smirked, taking his cock himself and wanking himself off even faster, so a wet noise filled the air, and Harry kept up on himself as their breathing gradually got deeper and louder. Louis came first, which was phenomenal for Harry to watch: his eyes screwing shut, mouth dropping open, and a gasping moan ripping from his mouth as his hot cum streaked out and coated Harry's lips and waiting tongue.

Harry came moments later, all the way up his previously clean t-shirt, tasting Louis' salty cum in his mouth as he rode out his orgasm as quietly as humanly possible. His body was shaking, head spinning, toes curling behind him. Louis' gasping breaths gradually turned to light laughter, using his index finger to swipe up some cum from around Harry's lips and guide it into his mouth. Harry sucked it all off before licking around his mouth, ridding of it all completely before finally glancing up at Louis with suddenly shy eyes.

"Well... holy shit." Louis breathed, followed by a stark laugh. "Thank you very much for that, Harry."

"Anytime." Harry shrugged, still slightly breathless, cheeks prickling hot pink as he stood to his feet and pulled up his pyjama bottoms. "Well, I better at least make an attempt to shower for a minute, otherwise returning with dry hair might be a bit suspicious."

"You do that, love. And no way are you telling a _soul_ what just went down. Are we clear?"

"I promise not to."

They linked eyes, Louis' powerful stare enough to have Harry timid again already.

"Night, Harry." Louis smirked, before he slipped out of the room quickly, no further conversation, and Harry restrained the urge to scream at the top of his lungs in excitement.

_WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well SHIIIIIT HA


	10. Ten

The pure radiance of Harry's smile, throughout the duration of his two-minute shower, could probably blind somebody. A jubilant atmosphere hung over him, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't have another fast wank in the shower due to how sheerly hot what he'd just done with Louis was.

When he had turned off the water and jumped out the shower, he helped himself to a fresh towel from on the shelf and used his forearm to wipe the condensation away from the mirror to take a look at himself. Despite having been stood in the shower for a good couple of minutes, his lips were still red and slightly swollen. It made him smirk to himself to think _Louis_ had been the cause of that. Holy shit, he had actually given him a blowjob, and it was the hottest experience of his whole seventeen years of life.

He ruffled his hair dry, routinely flicking his slightly damp fringe to the side across his head before chucking the towel into the laundry basket in the corner. To think Louis was across the corridor right now, most likely thinking about what had happened too, made Harry's stomach erupt with butterflies. He wanted every thought and feeling Louis was having to be printed onto a script for him, so he could read it and know what was going on from his side of this.

Harry speedily dressed, grabbed his phone from the windowsill, and switched off the light as he left the bathroom. There was no longer a pool of light shining from beneath Louis' door, expressing that maybe he was trying to get some sleep already. Maybe the orgasm Harry gave him was aiding that rest. _Shit._

Using his phone's torch once again, he jogged down the stairs and returned to the living, almost to have a genuine heart attack. Liam and Niall were awake again, sat up and watching the movie once again. _Oh God,_ Harry had hoped they'd been asleep the whole time. His paranoia immediately told him that they knew what had really happened upstairs, despite it being virtually impossible: he and Louis had been quiet enough.

"Look who's finally returned." Liam greeted, although his genuine, undeterred smile settled Harry. "Why'd you take so long?"

"I wasn't that long, was I?" He defended, sitting back down in his previous spot, which was cold to settle down into. "The water was nice and warm, I didn't realise how long I'd been."

"Yeah, that shower is nice. I usually stay in there a while too." Liam seemed to disband the topic completely, his eyes returning to the television.

"I thought you two were sleeping, anyway? What happened to that?" Harry wondered, bringing the blanket up to rest against his face. He could still taste the slightly salty taste of Louis in his mouth. It was absolutely filthy of him, sitting there talking to Liam with that piquant tinge still coating his tongue.

"There was some fucking gun war scene in this," Niall nudged his head towards the screen as he spoke, "Scared the absolute shit outta both of us. We decided to just stay awake."

Harry chuckled at the thought of the two of them jumping out of their deep sleep, absolutely terrified as the new sounds filled the room.

"Surely it's almost finished now, the film?" He asked. Liam grabbed the remote to check the remaining time.

"Ten minutes left."

That was still too long for Harry to withstand. But he was attempting to bite back a smile as he sat there, taking out his phone to distract himself. He tried not to let his breath hitch when he saw that he had a Facebook message from Louis waiting, one that had been there since he had gone back to his room.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Oh my God I am so sorry for letting that happen_

Harry pouted his mouth aside, feeling slightly discouraged by the fact that Louis was feeling regretful. He didn't want that, he wanted him to send him messages about how fucking amazing it was, how hot Harry looked. He decided to reply, after an internal debate with himself, assuring himself it was better than to leave everything unsaid. Besides, Louis was asleep, so he'd most likely see it when he woke up and it was light outside. Right now this was all feeling like a strange dream.

 **Harry Styles:** _Don't apologise, it's okay._

He winced on the inside when he saw that Louis was online on Facebook suddenly, the green dot by his name showcasing this, and Harry tapped off their chat at the speed of light. Louis was probably _trying_ to sleep, having switched off the light in his room, but was being kept awake by some evident guilt over what he'd let Harry do. It took a further four minutes before a message popped through, which was such a long and tense period of time that Harry was starting to think Louis wasn't going to reply at all. But he did.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _It really isn't okay...don't tell ANYBODY, please??_

Harry bit back a smirk. He was keeping a dirty secret with Louis, and he kind of liked that. It made him feel naughty.

 **Harry Styles:** _Of course not! I'm sat in the living room with them now, they don't suspect a thing._

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _OK. Night Harry_

 **Harry Styles:** _Good night._

Harry wanted to put a couple of kisses on the end of the message used to bid Louis a goodnight, but he figured it would be taking it too far. He didn't want to act as though he was _obsessed_ with Louis or something (even though he was, and had been for almost a month now.) The thought that didn't leave his mind was _'What will happen next? Will it just be forgotten completely? Pushed aside?'_

He put his phone out of reach from his needy grasp, on the windowsill of the living room, just as the film credits started rolling up the screen to signal the ending. Liam let out an overly loud yawn, stretching his arms out above him, and Harry settled back down and lay down completely in his makeshift bed.

" _Now_ I think we'll get some sleep. You tired yet, Hazza?" He queried, peeking around the blanket wall he had crafted around himself to look at him.

"Yeah, more so." Harry lied. Really, he never wanted to sleep again, because sleeping meant he'd wake up tomorrow, and waking up tomorrow meant seeing Louis again. As much as he wanted to see him, he knew it would be one of the most awkward moments he'd have to face. He had no idea where Louis stood now, in terms of how he was taking this.

Liam switched off the television before jumping to his feet to switch out the living room light. The room was left in pitch darkness, aside from the streetlight's mild glow through he drawn curtains. Harry kept swallowing in his mouth, dying to get rid of the taste - the reminder - and managed it after a few tries. There wasn't even a formal 'good night' spoken into the room by any of them, just a silence that seemed louder than scientifically possible. Harry listened in the quiet to breathing getting heavier from where his friends lay, drifting off once again, but all he could think about was Louis.

Was he asleep yet?  
Was he lying awake too?  
Did he really regret what had happened, or was it a move to grasp onto his maturity, and make sure nobody found out? Harry had no idea.

He drifted off in the end, figuring sleep only ever came when you didn't wish for it too intensely.

* * *

Harry groaned in disdain at his rude awakening: Liam thumping the back of his head with a pillow. He blindly swatted a hand behind him to try to stop it, his face still buried into a pillow of his own, wanting to physically ram the pillow all the way down Liam's esophagus.

His mind was scolded by the memory of last night. Sure, it was a fucking sizzling _hot_ memory, but he still had to face Louis. He shifted into a sitting position, eyebrows crinkling together when he saw that Liam and Niall were already dressed and ready for the day.

"What's going on?" He croaked out, followed by a laugh that was stifled with a yawn.

"We left you to sleep, seeing as you refused to wake up when we tried at about nine this morning." Niall informed him, using his fingers to comb through his hair.

"What's the time?" Harry asked, voice still deep with sleepiness, throwing the blanket off of himself and hauling himself to his feet.

Liam hummed in thought as he pulled out his phone, checking it before returning it to his pocket. "It's quarter past midday."

" _Jesus,_ I slept in."

"You did indeed. You were completely wrapped in that blanket, Louis almost walked straight over you."

Oh no. Louis had seen Harry asleep, at his most vulnerable. Hopefully he hadn't muttered anything embarrassing in his sleep, or snored particularly loud.

"Louis?" What a stupid question. Obviously Louis, why was he trying to make it out as though he didn't know him.

"Yes, Louis." Liam laughed. "Unless you've forgotten his name again?"

Harry rolled his eyes, slapping Liam's arm. "Shut up, I'm just tired."

He wanted to ask where Louis was now, what mood he was in, whether he was comfortable. But it'd be suspicious. He stayed quiet.

The doorbell erupted through the house, another shock to Harry's still-adjusting system, and he felt stupid for being the only one in his pyjamas, despite who it was at the door. While Liam went out into the hallway to answer the door, Harry covered his bottom half with his blanket and shifted into his underwear and jeans, fairly certain his very early morning shower was deemed pointless now that he was re-wearing clothing. He changed his t-shirt in just enough time, folding his blanket up to join the others on the sofa, as Zayn popped his head around the door.

"Where's Louis?" He asked into the room, as though Liam's answer to the question hadn't justified it enough, and he needed more witnesses. Harry and Niall shrugged in sync, the former feeling very scrutinised under his gaze, before Zayn dipped out of the room again. The exact same question was running through Harry's mind, though: where _was_ Louis?

Liam returned to the room, dramatically rolling his eyes and miming something along the lines of _'he's a dick.'_

"Why's he a dick?" Niall asked, receiving a scolding look from Liam to shut him up, despite Zayn probably being upstairs now to continue his quest to seek out Louis.

"He just seems to always mention _Harry,_ " He nudged his head at the boy in question, "Like him and Louis get some stupid kick out of messing with him."

Harry hated always being the centre of attention. He had no idea why it had to be him, but he had a feeling Louis would lay off a bit now, judging by what went down last night. Could he still call Harry _innocent?_ Most likely not. Would he continue to anyways? Most likely. Harry probably did continue to look innocent even throughout the blowjob, from Louis' point of view, all wide, doeful eyes and wet, pouty lips - _fuck._ He had definitely shown Louis a new side to himself.

"What was it this time? Something about me fingering myself again?" Harry huffed. Niall snickered a laugh.

"No, he just said Louis is 'probably tired from last night with Harry'." Liam quoted, with finger quotes, and Harry's stomach dipped immediately.

Did... did Zayn _know?_ Dear God, had Louis told him? Or was it a painful coincidence, a continuance of his ever-spiteful, sexual comments surrounding Harry? It was so hard to tell, yet Harry was just so glad Liam took it lightly - not that he'd suspect anything anyway. To him, Harry was as innocent as a lamb, sprinkled with fairy dust, carrying a flower in its mouth.

Harry fabricated an eye roll, waving a hand perhaps a bit _too_ perceptibly. "Oh, let him have his fun, I try not to let it bother me."

It really did bother him, especially when Zayn was potentially aware of last night's events, and could keep dropping hints about it around Liam and Niall. Sure, they'd mistake it as being a part of Zayn's crude personality, but it was still quite a blatant confession.

"What should we do today?" Niall moved the conversation along, probably for the best. Harry wanted to suggest for them to get out of that damn house, away from Zayn and his blabber-mouth.

"A kickabout in the park? Is your ball pumped up, Liam?" He suggested, thumb pointing in the direction of the garden, which was where Liam's proud cage of footballs resided.

"Nah, can't be arsed with football, I always seem to hurt my ankles in some way." Liam shook his head, visually wincing in his face as though he could already envision his ankle pain. Harry wanted to roll his eyes, but kept on anyway.

"Okay... how about we get a drink or something at Costa?"

"That sounds better. I want cake, too." Niall interjected, patting the pockets of his jeans until he could hear the positive jingling of coins. "I've got some change."

"Yeah, let's do that." Liam organised.

Harry finished preening his hair in the mirror above the fireplace, before they wrapped up warmer and set out to face the early April winds. It was that stage between seasons, it seemed, where it should have been getting warmer but refused. Harry would leave in the morning wearing a jumper, then get far too hot when the late afternoon sunshine struck him like a meteorite, giving him unwanted sweat patches. A semi-thick coat faired for now.

Costa was pretty busy for a coffee shop on a Sunday afternoon. Harry was the chosen 'table keeper', sitting at a four-chaired table in the corner to save it while Liam and Niall ordered their drinks. Harry just wanted a fruit smoothie, no food, feeling quite stressed out about the matter at hand with Zayn. It really shouldn't have worried him, especially seeing as they were away from him now and could relax. It took approximately eight minutes for his two friends to return to the table, Liam holding two drinks in a diamond shape between his hands, allowing Harry to take his with a gracious 'cheers'.

Niall took the seat next to Harry and Liam sat opposite Harry whilst complaining jokingly about nobody wanting to take the free seat next to him. Harry felt he couldn't even look Liam in the eye for too long today, following what he was hiding, concentrating instead on the dishevelled way Niall broke off pieces of the shortbread he had chosen, pushing pieces into his mouth with zero shame.

"Niall, you're an _animal,_ " Harry giggled, wiping off some crumbs that had somehow already found their way onto his sleeve, despite it being Niall's food. "You're getting that everywhere!"

"It's nice," Niall spoke with his mouth full, ignoring all of Harry's complaints whatsoever. "Do you want some?"

"I'm good, thanks." Harry raised a hand while shaking his head. He would have, if Niall hadn't already demolished the block of biscuit (which was grossly overpriced.)

Liam sparked up a conversation about why the cakes cost more when somebody wanted to eat in rather than takeaway, while Harry's eyes drifted over to the door as it opened. He did a dramatic double take, unintentionally, when he eyed _Zayn and Louis_ trailing in. It seemed to be fully of Zayn's own accord that they were walking in, as Louis was clearly skulking behind rather awkwardly, like a child in a museum, and Zayn had a stupid smile on his face as they headed...  
_straight towards the table Harry and his friends were sat at._

Oh God. Harry couldn't even look up, Louis Tomlinson was coming his way. All he could see was the unholy; the sexy mess of what went down just twelve or so hours ago. His eyes remained on Liam's hands across the table (maybe quite strangely), unable to meet Louis' blue gaze.

"Here they are!" Zayn exaggerated, pulling up a spare chair so it dragged with an ugly scrape across the oakwood flooring. "Let's join!"

Louis was _so_ reluctant, another contestant in the _who'll be better at avoiding each other's gaze_ competition, sliding into the chair by Liam's side while Zayn sat at the end of the table, closest to Louis and Niall. Harry took a long sip of his drink, coating his bone-dry throat.

"Why are _you_ here?" Liam snapped in disgust, stirring his iced coffee with his straw. Harry wanted to ask exactly the same thing, but he daren't have made any form of effort to look up from the Costa logo printed onto a napkin in front of him. If he looked across the table diagonally, he'd see Louis. A bit further left, Zayn. He couldn't. He was seething with worry that Zayn knew about last night.

"We thought we'd join you." Zayn continued on, a false excitement laced in his tone.

"No, _you_ thought we'd join them." Louis argued, his voice somehow startling Harry: _shit, the hot guy with the amazing dick is talking. Lord, help me._ The last time he had heard that voice, it was injected with raspy, needy arousal.

"Literally, you never give us a break." Niall spoke up, followed by a sharp laugh. He found everything funny, even when expressing his annoyances, like now. Zayn ignored Niall. Harry felt the hawk-like gaze of Zayn's fall onto him. He wanted to hide under the table.

"Hi, Harry," He brightly greeted, a smug undertone to it. "Enjoying sucking on that smoothie?"

 _He knew._ Harry knew that Zayn knew, because he noticed Louis kicking Zayn in response to what he had said. And Harry didn't know how to process that, knowing full well Louis was already regretting telling him. But _why_ did he have to in the first place?! Harry had to stay quiet about it, but apparently telling Zayn was absolutely fine. Such unfair treatment.

"Leave him alone, Zayn." Liam defended, without knowing the real reasoning behind Zayn's commentary.

There were four pairs of eyes on Harry now, including Louis' - which were the most powerful overall. Harry decided to respond confidently yet sarcastically to Zayn, but used it carefully, knowing he had to be prudent if he wanted to save any exposing comments.

"It's tropical." He dryly informed, before taking another casual sip. He glanced up and immediately met eyes with Louis, looking away right after in sheer embarrassment. Zayn hummed in thought after Harry's statement, seeming to lay off momentarily as he turned to look at the menu on the adjacent wall.

"Hmm..." Zayn mused in thought, his voice seeming to be the only one present at the moment. "Do you think they do free blowjobs here?"

Harry wanted to crush Zayn like an irritating insect. He felt so heavily humiliated, even though only 3/5 of them knew why Zayn was saying it. Louis had tensed, wearing an unamused expression, shooting daggers at Zayn. Niall, on the other hand, found Zayn's comment absolutely hilarious.

"Why would they do free blowjobs?" He cackled, causing a few people around them to look their way due to Niall's obstructively loud laugh.

"Well, some people do." Zayn's eyes fell onto Harry instantly. Harry stared back with hateful eyes, non-verbally demanding him to shut the fuck up, but it didn't deter Zayn's smugness. Harry shook his head ever-so-slightly at Zayn, the tiniest movement of his head, while Louis looked like he wanted to disintegrate. Somehow, Liam and Niall hadn't caught on to a thing, continuing to drink their beverages.

There was a temporary silence, in which Harry had dragged his gaze to his folded hands on the tabletop, and Louis had his foot threatingly resting on top of Zayn's beneath the table, an ominous warning of a foot stomp if he chose to make any more revealing jokes.

"Ah, Liam, my phone charger's still at yours so I'll have to stop back there again before I head home." Niall brought up. Zayn found it as yet another way to swerve the topic.

"Did you three have a cute, little sleepover last night?" He cooed. Harry really did feel sick of Zayn now, sick to his stomach, and bad (and not at the same time) for Louis. He felt bad that his friend was being so reckless, but also not bad because he had betrayed Harry in a way by telling him... in a way. It felt like betrayal.

"Quite a boring sleepover, actually," Liam stated, "We just watched a movie and went to sleep."

"Is that true, Harry?" Zayn questioned. Harry glanced up at him, and Zayn's eyes flicked to Louis briefly, then back to Harry again. His tongue prodded against the inside of his cheek as he held the eye contact with Harry, an obvious blowjob gesture, and Harry shook his head lightly, once again. Harry could tell by the slightest flash of discomfort on Zayn's face that Louis had trodden down hard on his foot beneath the table: _shut up, Zayn!_

"Yes, it is." Harry answered, keeping it all normal. "It was an alright movie." He linked eyes with Louis again, this time for a second longer, but neither of them smiled or made any form of changed facial expression. But the tension was there, written heavily in their eyes. All the two of them could see in their minds were scenes from last night.

"Anyway," Zayn clapped his hands together, startling about nine people in the café, including Harry, "Louis and I had better get heading off. But remember, Harry, you're always welcome to spend some time with _me_ if ever you're bored again."

Then Zayn hollowed out his cheeks and slightly cupped his hand in front of his mouth, as if he was holding a dick, before making a sexual, popping suction noise, and then he burst out laughing. Harry flushed red, Liam and Niall took it as another vulgar joke, and Louis flashed Harry an apologetic look before ushering his infuriating best friend out of the building.

Harry wanted to disappear. Zayn knew, meaning he would never hear the end of it. It was only day one and he was already terrorised by the comments.

"I'm so sorry, H, they're idiots." Liam frowned, patting his friend's forearm. "They're always picking on you, it's not fair. We'll try to avoid Zayn if he's around next time."

Yes. Harry was all for that plan.

"Please," He rolled his eyes, "It's annoying but it isn't your fault. It seems to be Zayn's personality."

"Louis was being nicer today, though." Niall chipped in. "He'd usually be joining in."

"He's probably just tired, he was up reasonably early this morning, for him nine is early." Liam seemed to save Harry from creating an excuse, without even intending to. But yes, Louis was being strangely quiet, obviously still emotionally reflective on what he'd let Harry do.

Harry was just hoping, with all of his heart, that Zayn wouldn't ever explicitly tell what he knew. It was clear he was informed that Liam and Niall didn't know, and this was why he found it funny to constantly come close to telling them.

It wasn't funny. Harry didn't find it funny, neither did Louis. But for once that morning, Harry was really regretting giving Louis oral sex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God dammit Zayn! Hahaha, embarrassed Harry is great.


	11. Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of Harry's home life. Not trying to make Anne or Robin look bad but it's all fiction!

Harry discerned, quite easily, that he _really_ hated Zayn. It wasn't just a mild hatred that would appease and pass within a few days of _forgive & forget_, no: it went to the dire lengths of Harry being pretty certain he could commit a murder if Zayn continued. No matter how super mega _hot_ Zayn was - undeniably so - he was so severely cocky and obnoxious that this surpassed his looks.

_Yes, Harry was very, very mad. Seething, almost._

Obviously Louis was at blame too; he shouldn't have told Zayn in the first place. That infuriated Harry as well, the fact Louis thought it was okay to do so _just_ because Harry was so lovely and shy, too shy to stick up for himself and ask Louis what the hell he was playing at for telling Zayn. Although he seemed regretful enough for his mistake, stomping on Zayn's foot and shooting Harry that apologetic, sorrowful gaze as he left, it wasn't enough.

When Harry had finally arrived home, he was met by the quotidian sound of Anne and Robin in the middle of a dispute, somewhere upstairs. He pointedly sighed, dropping his backpack carelessly by his discarded trainers before trudging off into the living room. His sister Gemma was curled up on the sofa in there, a hardback book balanced on her knee with an open bottle of nail polish atop of it, as though she was performing some sort of balancing act. Most of her attention focused on streaking the red polish onto her fingernails, occasionally flicking her gaze up to watch the reality TV show on the screen.

"Afternoon, Harry." She addressed, seeming to know it was him in the doorway without looking. "Where were _you_ the last couple of nights?"

Wow, somebody actually noticed Harry's absence. Usually it'd go unnoticed, they would all assume he was cooped up in his room like a social recluse. Especially his parents, who only seemed to notice him when something needed doing in the house: _Take the bins out. Can you wash those dishes up, please? The vacuum cleaner is on the landing, can you run it through the living room, darling? Thanks._

"Liam's." Harry muttered, falling back onto the other end of the sofa, so Gemma's nail polish bottle almost toppled over completely. 

She hummed in attempted interest, but she hadn't even looked Harry's way yet. Clearly both the appearance of her nails and the tasteless programme on the television were far more important than giving her younger brother proper attention.

"Where's mum?" He questioned. He already knew the answer: she was upstairs, arguing with Robin over something stupid. He just wanted it confirmed, his sibling to confide in whilst the shouting continued, but that wasn't a luxury he had. He was closer to Liam and Niall than he was to his own family.

"Upstairs. Arguing. Again." She robotically stated, as though it had become routinely. It was almost scripted now, considering their arguing took place on a daily basis now. But a divorce? Not yet.

"Gem?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I tell you something?"

She screwed the lid back onto her nail polish, admiring her work before setting it down onto the floor, along with the book. She seemed suddenly more intrigued as to what he had to say, probably hoping she would hear some new gossip to latch onto, but Harry just really wanted a heart-to-heart. He took a deep breath, arching up his legs in front of him and hugging his knees.

"I have a crush on somebody."

Gemma's nose wrinkled up in fondness, eyes sparkling as she beamed at her younger brother.

"Really? That's adorable, Harry! Who?" She pushed, shaking her hands frantically to dry the varnish, smile wide. Now Harry wondered why he had gotten himself into this, but realised he'd feel _so_ better if somebody more compassionate knew. _Maybe_ she could be considered compassionate? On her best days. Today seemed alright. But he was still flustered, ducking his head to hide the blush.

" _Someone..._ " He playfully sang, lifting his shoulders up.

"Tell me!" She chanted.

"Nooo," Harry wailed, grinning challengingly, "I don't want tooo."

"You brought it up, you _have_ to tell me now. I'm not going to judge you, whoever it is. Is it Niall?" She guessed. Disgust erupted onto Harry's face, eyes narrowing and forehead wrinkling.

"No! Why would it be Niall?!" He ridiculed, laughing brightly so his dimples pushed into his cheeks.

"I don't know, he's cute." She giggled. "C'mon, I'm not gonna be able to guess. Just say it, Haz."

" _Louis Tomlinson._ " He said it so quickly that if his words had been form, they would be a blurred image.

"Tomlinson, was that? _Liam?_ " She furrowed her eyebrows at her own guess.

"Tomlinson, yes. Liam, no."

"Who else has the surname Tomlinson?" She delved into her mind staring into space as she thought. "Does he have a _brother?_ "

Shit. She had got it already.

"Yes," Harry sheepishly smiled, covering his face with his hands, muffling the rest from behind them. "He's called Louis."

"Aww, Harryyy!" Gemma cooed, "What does he look like? Does Liam know?"

"No, Liam doesn't know. And Louis' got brown hair and these _bright_ blue eyes." Harry dazed, picturing Louis vividly in his head.

"Detailed explanation. How old is he, then? Same age as you?"

"He's twenty."

"Twenty..." Gemma trailed off, nibbling her lip. "Oh dear, Harry, you don't want to be going for people older than eighteen."

Harry wanted to roll his eyes and scoff.

"I'm not a baby, I'm seventeen, Gemma." Harry muttered. Gemma softly placed a hand on his forearm, rubbing it soothingly.

"Harry, love, I'm just trying to save you the disappointment. A twenty-year-old man isn't going to want to be with somebody who's seventeen. Not until you're eighteen, at least, which is still... ten months away."

Harry had a vivid flashback to last night, Louis completely _choking_ him with his dick, saliva dribbling down Harry's chin. He smiled to himself, almost mischievously.

"You're right."

"I'm sure it's only a crush anyway, right? I mean, I can't imagine it wanting to do anything _sexual_ , that doesn't even seem in your nature." She giggled.

Harry remembered the feeling of Louis' fingers tugging on his hair, moaning lowly in his throat and pushing Harry's face down further around his cock.

"Exactly. I can look but I won't touch." Harry innocently smiled, getting to his feet. "I'm glad I could tell somebody, anyway."

"Yeah, you can always talk to me, Harry."

_I sucked Louis' dick literally last night._

"Thank you, Gem." Harry appreciatively patted her shoulder before leaving the room. He wanted to burst out laughing and tell her everything about last night, prove her wrong, but he continued to bottle it up.

The yelling from upstairs had ceased, for now. Harry grabbed his bag and jogged up the stairs, trying to inconspicuously enter his room. It was untidy, as per usual, just how he'd left it. He scoped out his laptop from in amongst the 'wreckage', collapsing onto his bed with it and logging on to his Facebook. He had a friend request and a message. He checked the friend request first.

**Zayn Malik**  
_3 mutual friends_  
| CONFIRM | NOT NOW |

No. No thanks. He would rather _not_ have Zayn in his Facebook friends list, honestly. But then again, he knew he would just get questioned by Zayn as to why he didn't accept it, if he chose not to. So he clicked confirm, sadly. But he pacted with himself that if Zayn did anything annoying, he'd block him in a flash.

The message was from Louis. Harry wasn't surprised too much, considering he was expecting some form of apology from Louis for Zayn's conduct earlier that afternoon.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Harry i am so so so so so so so so sorry for earlier. Like really really really sorry. Yes i told zayn and now i feel so shit about how he was treating you and i'm just really sorry basically._

Harry didn't care. He was expecting the apology, sure, but it didn't mean he would just be fine about everything all of a sudden. He knew that Louis was just waiting for a _'it's okay!!_ or a _'no worries!'_ so he did the complete opposite. He put three clean and simple words.

 **Harry Styles:** _I don't care._

And it felt so rewarding. He was tired of being walked all over, so he left it there and shut his laptop lid, deciding not to return to it until tomorrow morning. 

_Monday_ morning. He had kind of forgotten that school was just a night away, having been very distracted by *cough* _recent_ events. It only made him feel even more down: another five gruelling days of school, followed by a full day's work at the bakery, then finally next Sunday off again. Then repeated, every single week. Oh, plus the constant arguments within his household when he _did_ manage to find some time to himself in his busy schedule.

Even though it was only six o'clock in the evening, he was pretty certain Anne was too worn out from arguing with Robin to make any dinner, so he decided to just go hungry. Again.

He cried himself to sleep that night, purely without even knowing why.

* * *

"So my mum's out of town this weekend," Liam began, as he, Harry and Niall lounged on the partly sunny field at lunchtime the next afternoon. "You guys wanna come over again? Louis is having a couple of mates round too. And I think Louis is gonna let us have some alcohol. Well, I'm in the process of _persuading_ him."

All Harry heard in those sentences was: 'Louis is having a couple of mates round too.'

So no.

"What happened to us avoiding Zayn? No way am I going to your house if he's there. Plus, when would _I_ ever touch _alcohol?_ " He scrunched up his nose in disgust (at Zayn, mainly, but also at the thought of he putridly acidic taste of alcohol.)

"We can stay in my room, we wouldn't even have to see Zayn." Liam explained, picking stands of grass from the ground before pointlessly throwing them to the breeze. "Literally, I promise, we could lock my bedroom door and ignore them. I'll tell Louis to keep Zayn away."

If they were to lock themselves into Liam's room, there would be inevitable comments from Zayn through the wood: _"Is Harry sucking you two off in there? I bet he is."_ He rolled his eyes at the thought. And Louis keeping Zayn away didn't seem like a likely bet, considering they'd literally found Liam and his friends in the café yesterday. Purposefully.

"No. Sorry, Liam, I'm just not comfortable with it." Harry waved his hands as away to animate this, in a _no-no-no_ gesture.

"C'mon, H! You said so yourself that Zayn can have his fun, and you don't take anything he says to heart!" Niall took Liam's side: the fun side. They were riding in a metaphorical party bus, while Harry tried to keep up on a bike.

"He _humiliates_ me, though. It's a bit hard to take what he says lightly when all he ever _says_ to me is sexual." Harry groaned, leaning back against the tree trunk behind him. "You can still go, Niall, I don't mind. Don't let me ruin your fun."

Liam began tugging persuasively on Harry's sleeve, as if he was inserting the life back into him by doing it. "It'll be no fun without you, Harry! How about this, right, I'll have a serious word with Louis and tell him how you feel about Zayn's comments. He will understand, believe me, no matter how much of a dick he is."

Harry didn't see much use in Liam consoling Louis. He already knew why Zayn was making the comments, it was his own stupid fault.

_But speaking of Louis, Harry still hadn't checked his Facebook messages._

He pulled out his phone, pretending to be paying attention as Liam kept on about what he could do to change Harry's mind, and tapped onto his Facebook app. Inevitably, he had a reply. He shielded his phone, not too obviously, from his friends' views before speedily reading.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Don't be like that Harry. i don't want things to be awkward now and i want you to forgive me. i made a shitty mistake and i am so sorry. Again. i'm sorry that zayn's being a prick too, i will make him stop._

He decided to type out a quick response, listening to notice Liam had changed topics completely, veering onto the subject of the weather.

 **Harry Styles:** _I really regret doing what I did with you. And I'm really fucking annoyed. Don't message me now please._

When Harry Styles used a swear word, he was angry. Very angry. But it was a part of his personal to end the message with _please_ , almost an apology for the profanity: _I'm sorry for swearing. But hey, look, I'm still innocent!_

God, he really liked Louis. Louis was typing again, despite Harry's clear statement to not message again.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Sorry you regret it :/ might see you soon, bye Harry x_

A kiss. A single kiss at the end. For pity? Was it genuine? Should it have made his heart flutter? Because it did, without his full intention. Louis was most likely trying to show his sincerity, not trying to convey any romantic messages to Harry. No, he didn't like him, he just enjoyed the blowjob and didn't want him to regret it for the sake of his _own_ deflated ego. Shame.

Harry managed to escape unscathed from Liam's propositions. He hadn't given in to any of the compromises, knowing he had to be strong and independent and voice his own beliefs, and all that crap. He was pretty certain he wasn't going to Liam's house after work the coming Saturday.

He ate dinner that evening, an oven-cooked pizza that he found in the fridge. It was the best he'd get. He settled down into bed reasonably late, after binge-watching episodes of _The Walking Dead_ with Gemma downstairs. It was quarter past eleven by the time he settled down, phone in hand.

He received a Facebook message. From Zayn Malik.

 **Zayn Malik:** _Hey Harry, fingering yourself???_

He completely ignored it, even though he had clicked on it and specifically read it, fuming with anger. Even over Facebook, Zayn was a filthy individual, with his salacious comments. Harry wanted to reply, telling him to fuck off, but he refrained from doing so. Instead, he shot a message to Louis. He typed and typed, letting his thoughts become letters on the screen, before hitting send rather irrationally.

 **Harry Styles:** _Zayn's just messaged me. I'm so done. The stupid comments 24/7, it's infuriating. Literally, don't expect to ever see me at your house again._

He felt like crying once again. It wasn't fair, the fact that his first and only ever sexual experience, with a seriously hot guy, was followed with such ridiculous backlash. He wished so deeply that Louis hadn't told Zayn, that it was just their little secret.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Don't stop coming round, ur liams mate you can't let me stop you. And i will have a word with zayn, really sorry again harry. Good night xx_

Two kisses.


	12. Twelve

Somehow, Harry managed to avoid any confrontation with Louis or Zayn for the rest of the school week. There had been no more attempts from Zayn to send any degrading messages via Facebook, suggesting that either Louis _had_ spoken seriously with him about his conduct towards Harry, _or_ Zayn had just gotten bored after Harry hadn't replied (which seemed more likely, somehow.)

Harry would be lying if he said he wasn't missing Louis already. It was absurd really, how he could be ultimately mad at Louis yet miss his glorious face. And he would _also_ be lying if he said he hadn't thought about those two kisses Louis had left at the end of his message since it had happened. He figured it was a gesture of goodwill, Louis simply showcasing his condolences to sooth Harry's woes, but it still made him pensive about the possibilities.

 _All_ day at work that following Saturday, Liam and Niall would not stop pestering Harry: _'Please join us tonight, it won't be any fun without you, Zayn won't even say anything to you!'_ Harry, almost without a doubt, would have agreed to go in an instant if Louis wasn't having Zayn there. But seeing as he was attending, he had the right to be far more reluctant. He didn't want to seem like a spoilsport, or somebody who couldn't take a joke, but he knew suspicions would arise if Zayn continuously made _blowjob_ jokes and references towards Harry. 

"Guys, I'm just going to be uncomfortable." Harry muttered over his shoulder, sprinkling some flour onto the counter so he could start rolling out some fresh dough. "Plus, it won't be just Louis and Zayn, he will have more mates there too. That will probably make Zayn even _more_ lively and reckless, he'll want to show off."

He felt something soft hit the back of his head then, so he span around to find that Niall had launched a perfectly good bun at him, in sheer protest.

"Way to waste food, Niall." He mocked, scooping it up from the floor and throwing it into the bin, knowing it couldn't surpass the 'five second rule' when they were working in a public bakery.

"It was my way of showing you how mad I am about how _boring_ you're being. And you will be pelted with food even more if you don't agree to come." Niall threatened, though there was that evident satire behind it, as usual with him.

"And _you_ will get fired for throwing around all of the produce." Harry shot back, turning back to his task of rolling out the dough, happy with his response.

"Listen, Harry, we're not pressuring you into going," Liam stepped in, a reasoning tone behind his voice, "But you should come today. If you don't, you'll always feel _awkward_ at my house, because I never know when Louis will suddenly bring Zayn back home with him."

"Liam, he messaged me on Sunday night asking whether I was _fingering_ myself. It's _so_ annoying. I even messaged Louis and told him Zayn had sent it to me." Harry informed.

Liam hummed, almost in disapproval on Zayn's part. "That's just weird, him sending that directly to you. He needs a good telling off, I reckon."

"Maybe we should pelt _him_ with bread until he apologises." Niall let out a risible laugh. "Who agrees?"

He was ignored.

"Look. I will come along today _if_ you take the following things into consideration: we're hanging around Zayn as little as humanly possible, if I feel uncomfortable I can go home, and we stay in your room for the most part, Liam."

"Deal." Liam nodded immediately. "That's absolutely fine, mate, whatever makes you most comfortable."

Well, not attending at all would make Harry most comfortable. But seeing as he seemingly had full control over the evening now, he was slightly more reassured. And he had the option to leave altogether if he so wished. So he was going to try to withstand it the best he possibly could, with the deepest regret already bubbling inside him.

What was he getting himself into?

Again.

* * *

There were four pairs of scruffy trainers lined up by the front door of Liam's house later that evening, one pair belonging to Louis and the others foreign to Harry's knowledge. Louis' friends. God dammit, why was he so bloody nervous already?

There was a flurry of exuberant laughter from the kitchen, consisting of several _genres_ of laughter, from different individuals, and Harry hated it. He wanted to see Louis but not Zayn. Or anybody else. The fact that Liam's mum wasn't home was rather unsettling because it meant Louis and his mates could act recklessly without the consequences. Harry had visibly tensed following the thundering hysterics from the kitchen, bowing his head despite a door between he and the group of older males.

"Okay, Harry, your call now. Would you like to come into the kitchen and get it over with and let them see you? Or would you rather go and wait in my bedroom while I grab us all a drink?" Liam was keeping the volume of his voice low, so as not to expose their presence, despite the way Liam's front door so loudly clicked shut when they had entered it.

Harry had no clue what to do. If he ran off upstairs like a little baby to hide, he wouldn't feel like he'd satisfied his self confidence. And then again, if he went into the kitchen (which was nerve-wracking just to consider), he would have to see Zayn, plus Louis the God, _plus_ the owners of the final two pairs of shoes.

"Niall, you decide for me." He settled, knowing if he had to choose himself, they'd be stood there for hours.

"I reckon you should get it over with, show Zayn you don't care what he thinks of you. Be confident even if you're not."

Well, that settled Harry's internal dispute. He followed Liam into the kitchen, Niall trailing behind them, immediately met by a mix of several aftershaves in the air. Harry recognised Louis' immediately, amongst the others. There were already empty beer cans scattered over the kitchen counter, some R&B soundtrack playing from a compact speaker in the corner, and they were casually stood around the room, leaning against counters with drinks in hand.

Louis looked _good._ He flattered such a simple outfit so easily, and his hair was pushed back slightly just how Harry liked it - not that it didn't look hot when it was relaxed too.

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=2q37rb8)

Zayn looked almost unbearably hot too, this evening. As much as Harry absolutely _despised_ the guy, the way he was dressed showed off the scattering of tattoos, and his hair was styled differently to usual, free from any product.

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=2cymted)

Well shit, Harry was dazzled by both Louis and Zayn. There were the other two stood in the room, one mixed-race with thick eyebrows and hazel eyes, the other with a pale complexion and very fine, fair hair. They didn't catch Harry's eye so much.

Zayn was looking right at Harry, even though Liam and Niall were present too, and it seemed Louis' eyes were trying to remain on his younger brother so as not to look at Harry.

"Do you guys want a drink?" Louis asked, although he was seemingly tense, most likely due to the fact Harry was melting beneath Zayn's gaze.

"I'll just grab a few cans for us." Liam muttered, heading towards the fridge. 

Harry didn't intend to act so timid but it was part of his nature. He didn't know where to keep his eyes, seeming to let them wander round the room restlessly. Zayn hadn't spoken yet - it was strange. But he was looking smug as always, almost sexily smug yet so irritatingly, and he folded his arms and let his eyes scan down Harry's body. He was doing it to make him squirm, and squirm Harry did.

"Louis, how rude of you not to introduce Harry and Liam to our other friends." Zayn suddenly said the opposite of what Harry would have expected, ripping his eyes off him (thankfully) to rest on Louis instead.

"Does it matter?" Louis snided, folding his arms indifferently. 

"Well, we don't all want to be strangers, now do we?" Zayn smiled, though it was smugly askew.

"This is Aaron," Louis referenced to the blonde guy, who waved awkwardly, "And that's Zachary." He pointed at the mixed-race boy, who gave a welcoming smile. Well, they seemed nice. Quite a change from Zayn.

"Now Harry's got even _more_ options if he wants to get on his knees for somebody a little older, right, little Hazza?" Zayn finally dropped the first comment. It hung heavily in the tense air.

"Zayn, shut the fuck up." Louis warned, his voice thick of vexation. He really didn't look like he wanted to be playing any childish games tonight, having had enough of Zayn's comments. Harry was so grateful he was being stuck up for, because all he had done to defend himself was shake his head and roll his eyes.

Aaron and Zachary seemed to find it rather humorous, probably igniting Zayn's flaming ego ever more.

"Yeah, not funny." Liam agreed with Louis, piling a load of cans he had retrieved onto the counter.

"Aww, look at Liam siding with his big brother. How cute." Zayn scoffed. "You guys are no fun."

"I think I have the _right_ to act how I want in my own home." Louis hissed, before taking a well-deserved swig of his beer.

"Don't argue, guys." Harry decided he would speak up, his voice coming out a lot softer than he would have liked, and everybody seemed to turn their attention to him in an instant.

"We can do what we fucking _want._ " Zayn raised his voice, shocking Harry suddenly, and Louis lashed out and lay a harsh slap on Zayn's forearm.

" _Don't_ yell at him." He fiercely scolded. Harry wanted to go home already, despite Louis' adorable attempts to defend him.

"Sorry." Zayn muttered to Louis, then looked at Harry. "I'm sorry, Harry, for the comments."

Harry nodded an 'it's alright' before desparetely turning to Liam as a way of asking him to escort them upstairs now. Liam caught on. Before they left the room, Harry held powerful eye contact with Louis for a good three seconds.

-

Harry stuck to drinking fancy little bottles of elderflower pressé, not too fussed about the thought of drinking alcohol. It just wasn't for him and it tasted too much like pure soap. Liam was drinking a tacky looking lager while Niall sipped on a can of Fosters, and they chatted casually about several different matters. Liam must have apologised at least four times regarding the situation downstairs, to which Harry assured him it was okay.

They could hear that the voices downstairs only seeming to get louder and more rowdy as the time went on, approaching nine o'clock that evening, and Harry couldn't stop thinking about Louis - nothing new there. Whenever he sat in reflective thought, his mind would _always_ wander back to what he and Louis had gotten up to in the bathroom. _Fuck._

 _21:46_ was when the mayhem began. Drunkenness ensued, his friends clearly unable to handle the excessive alcohol they had been pouring down their throats for the past couple of hours, and Harry was still sipping on his modest drinks and worrying about what to do with his restless mates. They were prodding each other, giggling, joking, swaying stupidly around the room, while Harry tried to stay bright and happy but really wanted to be at home right now.

"Hey, Harry, I'm pretty sure Zayn wants to _fuck_ you." Niall severely slurred, emphasis on the profanity, before he and Liam uproared into another laughing fit.

"That's not even funny, guys." Harry rolled his eyes. "He's horrible."

Niall leant in towards Liam's ear, whispering something quickly before they both burst into lively laughter. Harry rolled his eyes more majorly now, with an annoyed groan.

"What are you whispering about now?" He snapped.

"Oh, nothing." Liam muttered, waving a hand carelessly. "Should we all go downstairs now and join the others?"

"No." Harry stated, obdurately. "Remember what I said at work? We hang out up here, away from Zayn."

"Oh, lighten _up!_ " Niall sassed, voice laced with a constantly drunken undertone. Harry had pretty much had enough.

"You know what? I will go downstairs, towards the front door. I'm going home." Harry sighed, getting to his feet and grabbing his jacket off the back of Liam's desk chair.

" _Really?_ " Liam drunkenly stammered. "For fuck's sake, go then."

Harry felt disrespected. It wasn't for the first time in his life - he felt disrespected more of the time, like no one truly appreciated him for being a living, breathing human being. He was just something solid to poke fun at, not a person. He stupidly felt tears prickling the backs of his eyes as he headed speedily down the stairs, towards the noise of the party-like atmosphere downstairs. They seemed to have migrated into the living room, the bassy sound of their music vibrating from behind the door. Harry slipped his shoes on and left the house, not even caring that he slammed the door _extremely_ loud, something inside of him wanting Liam and Niall to hear how pissed off he was (even though they were too off their heads to realise anyway.)

Harry folded his arms around himself, tears gliding smoothly down his face as he walked across the crunching stones of the driveway. The cold April night air stung, especially as he only wore a flimsy jacket, having expected to be staying the night at Liam's. He began walking down the pavement along Liam's street, hearing a door-slam echo out from behind him somewhere...

"Harry!" A voice called out into the icy air. Louis' voice, sounding completely sober and mature.

Harry's heart began drumming faster beneath his skin, his legs speeding up below him, carrying him along faster, wiping childishly at his tears with the cuff of his jacket.

"Harry, please stop."

Harry did, abruptly, but didn't turn around. He waited for Louis to catch up instead, too afraid to face him and witness his hotness again, especially while he was here crying like a baby. Louis took just eight seconds to catch up, a gentle hand laying on Harry's shoulder and spinning him around. Harry bowed his head, knowing how obviously pink his cheeks flushed when he was crying, how his eyes went brighter and glossed over with tears.

"Why are you crying?" Louis softly asked. Harry had never seen somebody look so concerned in his life. His heart melted.

His response was a simple shrug, a stubborn one.

"Obviously you _do_ know, Harry." Louis raised an eyebrow, an almost playful smile on his lips, trying to lighten the situation but instead just making Harry fall even more in love with him inside his head.

"Liam and Niall. They're drunk," Harry sharply sniffed, wiping at his eyes again, "Just making comments about me and Zayn and whispering to each other about me."

Louis looked angry then, eyebrows furrowing, mouth pouting to the side in suppressed annoyance.

"That's not okay of them to do. Would you like me to go and have a word with them?" He offered, his gaze softening when he met eyes with Harry, who was flustered when looking at him. All he could see was Louis naked in his mind. _Well shit._

Harry furiously shook his head. "No, there's no point."

"Then would you like a lift _home_? I'm not over the alcohol limit, I've only had one and a half beers." Louis suggested, tilting his head aside with his bottom lip pouted slightly out, and Harry found it absolutely adorable. But he would have to decline that offer, because really he didn't want to go home at all that evening. Saturday nights were the worst argument-wise for his parents, they'd be livid tonight. He had no clue where he was heading.

"I don't want to go home." He shook his head, idly scratching his forearm.

"Why not?"

Harry hesitated, opening his mouth to reply but freezing when he didn't know how to fill the silence. Louis mentally took note.

"That's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Would you like to come back inside? It's freezing out here and I don't know where else you'd be heading." Louis reasoned, and then Harry realised Louis' hand was still on his shoulder in a firm grip. _Well._

"I don't want to. Liam and Niall will be acting like idiots for the rest of the night and I'm sick of being around them when they're like that." Harry huffed. "I might just go and sit in the park."

"No way am I letting you sit in the park at 10pm, Harry, _no_ way." Louis maturely disputed. "All my mates are drunk too. It's kind of giving me a headache, their shouting and the loud music. Would it be too awkward for me to ask you if you'd like to come back and sit quietly with me?"

 _OH NO._ Harry couldn't do that. All he could think about right now, as it stood, was Louis' naked body, the way his voice went so deep and alluring when he was turned on. But he felt helpless, like he had nowhere to go, so he found himself agreeing.

"No, I'd like that." He forced a smile, though he could hear his heartbeat in his ears. "Thank you, Louis."

Louis finally released his grip from Harry's shoulder, letting his hand fall down to his side instead. They walked in a tense silence back towards the house.

"I'll mention to them that I'm heading to bed and they can just sleep in the living room. I won't tell them that you're with me, don't worry." Louis assured, as they reached the front door again. "Run up to my room, I'll be up in a couple of minutes."

Harry nodded. He wanted to scream, he had no idea how he was going to handle this. They stepped into the house, the warmth like a heat rush battling with the cold that consumed Harry, and he jogged up the stairs quickly, hearing Louis wander off into the living room.

What in the world was he doing?

He entered Louis' room quickly, cautiously anxious Liam or Niall would suddenly leave Liam's room and spot him. It was so _strange_ being in Louis' room alone. It smelt delightfully like him, the aftershave he always seemed to wear, and it was tidy today. The bed was made, clothes cleared from the floor, items that were once scattered across the desk now orderly where they belonged - probably because he was having friends round. Harry decided to sit on the chair at the side of the room, allowing himself to inspect the walls. There was a photo collage on the wall opposite, photographs of Louis, each one with different people. Some of him smiling with unknown people, or pulling stupid faces with Zayn. There was a particularly sweet one with Liam, where they looked more like brothers for once.

Louis burst into the room so suddenly that Harry actually jumped slightly, holding a hand to his heart.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," Louis apologised, with a chuckle. "I told them I'm heading to bed. The worst I got called was a lightweight, so that's okay." Louis casually leant against his desk, maybe trying a bit too hard to look good (even though he didn't need to try whatsoever) and he smiled at Harry.

"So..." He mused, awkwardly smiling.

"So." Harry muttered, a shy smile. What hung in the air was what had happened a week ago, the blowjob. Neither of them, Harry could bet, could rid of those pleasant mental images.

"Look, I'm _really_ sorry about Zayn, the comments he's always making. It's my fault, really." Louis sighed, looking down at his feet, on which he wore just socks.

"Don't apologise, I can tell it's the way he is, you can't change him." Harry shrugged, picking nervously at his nail as a distraction. It went silent again, and Harry could hear a buzzing in his mind: probably the stress bouncing off the corners of his head. Why was he sat with Louis in his bedroom, alone?

"Do you wanna... _do_ anything?" Louis resolved the silence.

Harry wanted to do so much with him. 

"Play Xbox?" Louis added.

"Not really in the mood for gaming," Harry admitted, with a sorry smile, "Sorry."

"No, that's okay, just a suggestion." Louis kindly reassured.

Another silence. Harry was beginning to wonder whether the irksome sounds of his parents arguments were more worth it than sitting in an awkward silence with Louis. It was killing him, the way he was so nervous he couldn't even think up anything whatsoever to say.

"Was that really your first sexual experience last week?" Louis _definitely_ brought up a new topic, one that had the blood rushing to Harry's cheeks. Louis had finally addressed the elephant in the room, the subject they had seemingly been avoiding.

"Uh, yeah." Harry mumbled, a timid smile. "It was."

"Why _me_? Sorry, it's just been on my mind recently, why you'd want your first time doing anything to be with me."

Harry tensed. He couldn't admit now that he had a debilitating, intimate, over-the-top crush on him - no way! So he improvised, fighting to think of another valid response.

"Because I trust you."

"You _trust_ me?"

"Yeah." Harry said.

"Then I had to go and ruin it by telling Zayn. I'm such an idiot," Louis stressed, "It _so_ wasn't fair on you. I guess I just freaked out and needed to get it off my chest to somebody."

"To _boast_?" Harry didn't know whether he had truly intended to say this, but it was out and in the air now, waiting to be replied to. Louis looked caught off-guard a little bit, mouth hanging open but with a hesitant response.

"No, I didn't want to _boast_. I just needed to get it out of my system that I'd let it happen. Obviously choosing Zayn to do so to wasn't the best idea."

"No."

"Well, anyway, I am flattered to be your first ever choice." Louis sighed a laugh. "Oh, did you send Zayn back a message after he asked whether you were fingering yourself?"

Wow, way to put it easily. That made Harry rather flustered.

"Umm, no. Just ignored it."

"Have you ever done it?" Louis suddenly asked.

"Done what?"

"Fingered yourself?"

Harry huffed out a shocked laugh, eyebrows lifting.

" _Louis!_ " He piped out, trying to hide his embarrassed smile.

"What? Just a simple question." Louis smirked. Harry could tell that Louis liked it, thinking about Harry fingering himself. It so clearly turned him on, especially to talk about it with him.

"N-No." Harry stuttered, shaking his head. "I haven't."

Why were they talking about this? Louis was supposedly straight (if you set aside the fact he had let Harry blow him, plus looked utterly turned on talking about this) yet here he was quizzing Harry on his masturbatory habits for self-pleasure. Harry stupidly felt like he shouldn't mention anything sexual ever again to Louis after he had told Zayn about their oral sex experience, but the intrigued look on Louis' face made him want to discuss it.

"Why not?"

"Because... I just haven't, I dunno." He nervously laughed, looking at his hands in his lap so that he wasn't looking directly at Louis. "It'd feel weird doing it myself."

"So you'd want someone else to do it?" Louis pushed. Harry glanced up, one eyebrow raised, a quizzical look in his eye. "I wasn't... implying _me_ , I was--"

"I know, Louis." Harry chuckled. "It's okay. But yeah, someone else, I guess."

Silence again. Harry could feel his pulse in his temples. He had grown hot all over from this topic, fingers gripping instinctively into his jeans.

"I once fingered a guy for a tenner. He offered it to me in a nightclub, I was broke then so I agreed." Louis informed all of a sudden, as though it was the most casual thing in the world. Harry choked on a surprised laugh, which came out more like a scoff.

" _Really?_ "

"Yeah, didn't fuck him, though. Haven't ever fucked a guy."

_Harry was completely freaking out. Why were they now discussing what Louis had done with a guy? The fact that he had gone slightly gay for pay shouldn't have been their Saturday night topic._

"Thanks for that information." He giggled. The giggle, for fuck's sake. "What about you, have _you_ ever fingered yourself?" Harry turned the tables, rather confidently.

"Me? No, I haven't. But the guy who paid me to finger him, he came _so_ hard from it, so it must feel really good."

Oh God, Harry had reached his maximum shade of pink, wanting to put his face in his hands and scream. Yes, partly because he was intensely turned on by this. He was so attracted to Louis already, and this wasn't helping him whatsoever. Louis must have been doing it on purpose, what with the lingering stare he gave Harry after delivering his latest sentence.

"Yeah, I guess it must do." He answered, trying so hard not to let his voice break or dip in any way that would expose his arousal. Louis wasn't trying to hard to restrain his, eyes slightly squinted, occasionally biting his lower lip. Harry really wanted to disperse away from this tragically hot conversation.

"Umm..." Louis trailed off, scratching the back of his neck before letting out a sharp, nervous laugh. "Do you wanna, like..."

"Do I want to what...?" Harry carefully asked, feeling like his eyes widened.

"No, nothing." Louis dismissed. "I was gonna ask if you want to get some sleep yet, you can take my bed."

Harry wasn't convinced that was Louis' real question, but he allowed it anyway. He swore he could hear ringing in his ears. Maybe alarm bells.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wellllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
> 
> p.s. the pictures of louis and zayn included actually RESURRECTED ME FROM THE DEAD. Ha.


	13. Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies if there are any grammatical errors!

The tension in the air was unendurable. Harry had been offered Louis' bed for the night, which he graciously accepted. The sheets smelt beautifully of Louis, the threads and fibres intertwined with his wondrous scent. Harry realised that it mixed well with the fresh scent of his own hair, which he had washed thoroughly before work that morning, and maybe it was his deluded side that thought of this: the side of him that thought every single aspect of himself could somehow match with Louis. He wanted to believe they were made for each other.

He was still so fucking nervous just being there. They had been in there for approximately fifteen minutes now, yet Harry was too scared to even come _close_ to getting ready for bed. What Louis had been saying that evening was still stirring through his mind: _"Haven't ever fucked a guy." "But the guy who paid me to finger him, he came_ so _hard from it, so it must feel really good." "Do you wanna, like..."_

Harry had to stop thinking about everything Louis had said that evening, knowing he would get too internally exhilarated and would never be able to sleep. 

He sat cross-legged on the top of Louis' made bed, hands resting in his lap, watching as Louis 'set up camp' on the floor with several thicker blankets. He probably should have been making some effort to get ready to sleep but he was just too shy and awkward.

Louis patted down a plumper pillow, setting it perfectly on the little mountain of blankets.

" _Looouis!!!_ " A voice called out playfully from somewhere outside Louis' room. Zayn's voice.

"Shit!" Harry whispered, wide eyes on Louis, asking without words what the fuck to do. Louis pointed to the wardrobe desparetely, so Harry jumped up and opened it, stepping inside at lightning speed and slamming the doors shut behind him, just as Louis' bedroom door swung open. Zayn stumbled in, clearly drunk off his head by now.

"What do you want?" Louis spat, clearly not in the mood for this right now. Harry was holding his breath in he wardrobe, terrified of being found out.

"Was that little Harry who ran off earlier, then?" Zayn slurred, followed by a inquisitive, overly comical hum.

"Yeah, he's okay now. He went home." Louis lied, seemingly very convincingly.

Zayn released a sharp laugh. "You should've brought him back here and let us all _fuck_ him."

Harry's eyebrows crumpled together in both disgust and shock, to the extent where he wanted to burst out of the wardrobe and slap Zayn across the face. He bit down on his finger.

"Don't say that, Zayn." Louis scolded, voice as cold as ice.

"It's just a joooke! Chill out, maaan!" Zayn whined, with contagious laughter ringing out to follow.

"I'm going to sleep now, can you go downstairs?" Louis asked, trying to sound mature.

"Fine! You're so boring, bro." Zayn mocked, before loudly leaving the room, with a slam of the door.

Harry waited until Louis opened up the wardrobe, just so it was definitely safe, and Louis wore a very sorry expression.

"It was so shit of him to say that, I'm sorry, Harry." He apologised, a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I'm used to it by now." Harry rolled his eyes. He really wasn't used to it, it still made him feel physically sick.

"I should have punched him, really. Don't worry, they won't be coming back up now." Louis assured, returning to his makeshift bed. Harry perched himself back onto Louis' bed, legs folded, heart still hammering from the close call.

All of a sudden, Louis pulled off his t-shirt from where he sat. Harry wasn't expecting it, the tension already too much, and he was pretty sure he breathed in extra hard and tried to subtly look away. The smirk on Louis' face showcased that he had heard the little gasp.

"Are you gonna get out of those clothes?" Louis had chosen those words carefully, knowing their effect on Harry. "...because you can't sleep in all your clothes, can you?"

"No." Harry mumbled, trying to hide his smile. He climbed beneath the cold covers on Louis' bed, hiding his entire torso behind the sheet before whipping off his own t-shirt and dropping it to the floor. Yes, he was still insecure of his body, despite Louis seeing him in swimming trunks _and_ on his knees in front of him, doing something so intimate.

"Why are you shielding yourself behind there?" Louis softly laughed. "Are you... self-conscious, Harry?"

Yes. But he couldn't say that so easily, it wasn't a _good_ thing to be, in his eyes.

"No, I just... I'm cold." He lied and shrugged, cutely holding the blanket between his chin and his chest and tilting his face with a shy smile.

"It's far from cold in here, Harry. You're insecure, aren't you?" Louis pushed, yet he wasn't too demanding about it. It was a friendly question with the tone he was using, resting back on his palms so that gorgeous, tanned torso stretched out and Harry had to try not to stare again. He laughed shortly and looked down at his hands.

"I dunno."

"That's a yes," Louis clarified. "But why? You were absolutely _rocking_ those little yellow shorts when you guys all went in the pool."

"Oh, God." Harry literally groaned, smiling as he put his face in his hands and shook his head. Louis remembered the damn swimming shorts. They had probably been on his mind, holy shit holy shit holy shit, he had thought about Harry in the shorts.

"Don't be so insecure... _You've got a nice body_." Louis said the final sentence so very quickly that Harry only just managed to catch it, catching onto it and feeling his heart thud. _Well._

"Well... thanks?" He tried, tone raising towards the end of the word, face puzzled and scrunched up in confusion.

"No problem." Louis mumbled, without making any eye contact now, and the whole situation seemed to suddenly become awkward. 

Louis clearly hadn't meant for Harry to hear the compliment properly. Harry took the time to shuffle out of his jeans beneath the covers, popping them down onto the floor with his body covered by the duvet cover. He was sat up, pretending to casually stare into space in the midst of the silence, when really he was waiting for Louis to say something. Anything. He couldn't stand any form of awkward silence.

"You're such a good person, Harry." Louis filled the silence about a minute later, twisting the material of his blanket around his finger and looking intently at Harry now. "You know that?"

"Oh. Thank you." Harry lightly chuckled, a bright sound.

"No, _honestly,_ you're just lovely. You always stay so bubbly and talkative and I can tell you're going through some bad things. Like Zayn giving you shit, your mates treating you badly. And you didn't want to go home tonight, which is none of my business, but it breaks my heart, really. Now you're telling me you're _insecure_ and..." Louis trailed off, lightly shaking his head. "...you shouldn't be."

Harry felt like tearing up from hearing that. It really put into perspective what he was actually tolerating, how much weight he had on his shoulders yet he kept smiling.

"I think I needed to hear that." He softly grinned. "Thank you, Louis."

"It's okay. Now stop being so tense and relax." Louis smiled, with a friendly wink. Whenever he winked, it changed something inside of Harry. He wanted Louis, he always had, and that flirtatious side to the older boy shone through whatever the situation and made the tension even thicker.

Harry playfully sighed and let the blanket drop to rest at his hips, exposing his abdomen rather confidently, and Louis' eyes _immediately_ latched onto the newly shown expanse of skin. Harry's torso was pale in complexion and very lightly toned, nothing special, yet Louis wasn't planning on looking away anytime soon. Harry whined in complaint, folding his arms over himself so that Louis looked away.

"What?" Louis chuckled, nibbling on his lower lip.

Holy fuck, Harry was turned on. Why was it so easy for Louis? All he did was bite his lip.

"You're looking at me." Harry complained, with a playful smile, eyes dipping down.

"So, Harry, you've never done anything sexual apart from sucking my dick?" Louis lowly asked. Oh shit, the low tone. Why was he still trying to elucidate this question? It made Harry flush red, the way Louis had stated it so genuinely.

"No. Nothing."

"And you've never had _anything_ inside you?"

Harry's stomach did flips, heart stammering in his chest, avoiding meeting Louis' eye. He felt he could explode from the tension.

"Never."

"Interesting," Louis mused, an aroused edge to his voice, "It's because you're a good boy, isn't it?"

Harry wanted to groan aloud due to how fucking hot that was.

"What's this turning into?" He nervously laughed, scratching his forearm.

"Experimentation?"

Harry wanted to die. _Oh my God, was it happening again?_ Louis wanted to do something sexual with him? Again? Holy fuck, Harry didn't know what to say to that.

"Ex...perimentation." He slowly stated, trying to hide his radiant grin. "What are you suggesting, Mr. Tomlinson?"

"I'm suggesting you let me finger you."

Yup - Harry internally died. He didn't quite know what on earth to say to that, completely lost for words, mouth hanging ajar slightly. It wasn't that he didn't want it, and he was nice and fresh and clean and had washed that morning, and he really _really_ didn't want to say no to it. But he had some concerns, nagging him in the back of his mind as his heart raced.

"Isn't it gonna _really_ hurt?" He worried, already envisioning how purely agonising it would be. Louis fondly smiled, getting to his feet and moving to sit on the edge of the bed. Harry felt like he was frozen still with nerves.

"Of course it will at first, but not for too long." He reassured, then he placed a gentle hand on Harry's forearm. "You've got to tell me, though, Harry, if you really want it."

"I do want it." He whispered immediately, using his hand to place on top of Louis' comforting one. "Can you do it, Louis? _Please?_ "

Louis' hand glided up Harry's forearm and slid onto his abdomen, sliding softly over the skin, so gently.

"You want me to, baby?"

 _Baby._ Harry shivered.

"Yeah."

Goosebumps were erupting onto Harry's skin where Louis' fingers graced, caressing the skin, which he had never done before. He hadn't seen Harry's body in all its glory, hadn't skimmed his fingertips along the soft, untouched skin.

"Are you gonna relax for me? You're shaking." Louis whispered, a tender voice to match the touches. Harry hadn't noticed his trembling until then, feeling it in his hands.

"Yeah, sorry." He breathed out a laugh.

Louis retracted his hand, much to Harry's dismay, to grab a pillow from the end of the bed and rest it up against the headboard. "Lie back for me, Harry."

Harry did, so he was half-lying against the pillow, his torso more stretched out now. He moved his legs into a more comfortable position along the bed.

"Do you mind if I move this?" Louis politely asked, picking up the corner of the duvet cover in reference.

"Go ahead." Harry agreed, gulping in an attempt to coat his dry throat. He was only wearing his underwear beneath the blanket, and the cool air hit his bare thighs as Louis threw the cover onto the floor. Louis hummed low in his throat, quite forwardly sliding his palms up and down Harry's calves.

"No one's seen your body before?" He asked, eyes glazed over with lust. Harry loved seeing him like that. He shook his head in response, a shy smile. "Even better. I'm gonna be so gentle with you."

" _Please._ " Harry didn't even know what he was begging for, but he figured it was his inner need to have Louis' hands on him. Louis complied, his hands gliding down the sides of Harry's waist now, over his smooth, slim hips and back up. The small, fine hairs on Harry's torso stood on end at the touch.

Louis leant his mouth over to Harry's right nipple, his tongue flicking over it once, painfully slowly. Harry's breath hitched, his fingers gripping into the bedsheet beneath him. Louis' tongue began leisurely twirling around the bud of Harry's nipple, and Harry's breath hitched loudly at the new sensation.

"Yeah..." He breathed out, in half a whisper, eyes fluttering shut. Louis moved his attention to the left nipple, sucking on it before letting his teeth very lightly sink in. Harry choked out a quiet moan, head against the headboard behind him. Harry realised that he was already hardening, an unexplainable feeling shooting throughout him. Somebody was touching him. Without a word, Louis trailed his lips downward, leaving wet, open-mouthed kisses down Harry's rising and falling stomach. One of Louis' hands twisted Harry's left nipple between his finger and thumb, the other hand holding gently onto his hip.

"You doing okay?" Louis asked, stopping the trail of kisses once he reached just below Harry's belly button.

"Please continue." Harry panted. "It's so good."

Louis smirked then, his eyes flicking down to take in the restrained bulge in Harry's underwear.

"I can see." He purred, palming once over Harry's bulge, so Harry hummed out a deep, long moan. "Yeeeah, you like that? You're already hard, babe, wow." Louis breathed.

"Take it off." Harry impatiently commanded, hooking his fingers under the waistband himself and beginning to shift out of them.

"Getting impatient, are we?" Louis teased.

"I want your fingers inside me." Harry blurted out, voice low, unsure where in the realms of his mind that sentence came from but it made Louis' pupils dilate in arousal.

"You _do_?"

Harry eagerly nodded, despite the fact that he was absolutely terrified on the inside. What was he agreeing to? Another torturous, sexual-frustration-fuelled escapade. Louis scooped Harry's underwear off completely, throwing them to the floor and exposing Harry's dick fully hard and laying against his stomach.

"Nice," Louis complimented, eyes glinting. "I would say I'd give you a blowjob, it's just..."

"Not your thing?" Harry giggled. "Still playing the straight card?"

"I _am_ straight. I'm just helping you out." Louis stated, rather seriously. _Whatever you say, Louis._ God. Harry decided to start jerking himself off, slowly, sick of having no relief. "Yeah, you're definitely impatient."

"You're taking too long." Harry smugly replied.

"Are you gonna spread your legs for me?" Louis asked, voice low and aroused. _Definitely straight._ Harry turned suddenly shy, smiling slightly and crossing his legs at the ankles instead. "C'mon, there's no need to be shy."

"Can't help it." Harry shrugged, leaving his cock unattended to for a moment. "Never... shown anyone my body."

"There's a first for everything." Louis softly reminded. He slid both his hands between Harry's thighs and slowly prised his legs apart. He moaned aloud when he saw Harry's tight hole, biting on his lower lip. "Yeah, you're definitely a virgin."

Harry shyly laughed, hiding his face by moving it to the side and digging it into his shoulder. 

"You're adorable, you know that?" Louis chuckled. "Could you suck on my finger for me, Harry? Get it nice and wet?"

"Yeah." Harry lifted his face once again, opening his mouth for Louis' index finger, looking Louis in the eye as he swirled his tongue around it, getting it nice and slicked for Louis.

"There we go, that's so hot." Louis purred, pulling his finger out, to Harry's reluctance. "Are you sure you want this?"

"Yes." Harry assured him, taking hold of his dick once again to slowly wank, knowing he'd need the pleasure to overpower the pain.

"Okay." Louis nodded. "Spread your legs more for me."

Harry did, arching his knees up and resting the bottoms of his feet against the mattress, completely exposing himself. He sucked in a loud inhale as he felt the cold, saliva-slicked finger circling slowly around his entrance.

"It feels weird." Harry giggled, short of breath.

"I can imagine." Louis breathed. "You ready? Please relax, Harry."

Harry released the breath he had been holding, one hand gripping beneath one leg and the other hand slowly jacking himself off. Louis very slowly inserted the tip of his index finger just past the rim, and Harry cried out loudly in discomfort.

"Shhh," Louis hushed, "It hurts, baby, I know. Let me get some proper lube. Are you okay?"

Harry winced as Louis slowly removed the finger, digging into a bedside drawer and retrieving a bottle of lube. He squirted a generous amount onto his finger, more lubrication than the spit could have provided, dropping the closed lube bottle onto the bed beside him and turning back to Harry. Harry gave him a nod to continue from where they left it.

Again, Louis very slowly inched his index finger in, and Harry's eyebrows creased together, holding his breath.

"Breathe." Louis instructed, noticing that Harry's chest had stopped rising and falling. Harry released a heavy breath which turned into a small whimper. "You're so tight, _Christ._ "

"Start moving it." Harry snapped, not intending to come across so bossy but simply too overwrought with pain to be nice about it. Louis retracted the finger until just the tip remained, and then pushed it back in, very slowly. "The pain of it, holy shit."

"I know, babe. It'll be okay soon, I promise you."

Louis continued the same movement for a good three minutes with the single digit, working it in and out, Harry releasing sharp little breaths and broken moans.

"Second one," Harry breathed after a while. "More."

"If you're sure."

Harry nodded, eyes shut.

Louis used his free hand to pour excessive lube over his middle finger, letting it join alongside the index finger. As he slowly edged it in, Harry was dazed with pain, throwing a hand into his mouth to bite down onto.

"F- _Fuck._ " He whispered. "It hurts. Don't stop."

Louis bit his lip harshly as he pushed the middle finger in all the way, the resistance powerful against the two fingers as they stretched Harry out.

"Two will be enough, baby, let's get you used to these." Louis reassured, patting Harry's thigh with his free hand. "Are you still breathing steadily?"

"Yeah."

"Good boy."

Louis tried twisting his fingers, to which Harry choked out a moan of discomfort. Louis scissored out his two fingers, pushing against the tight, velvety walls, and Harry had never felt such excruciating pain in his life. He fought through it, knowing for now the pleasure from wanking would have to suffice, and Louis finally began pumping the two fingers in and out, at an experimental speed. Harry was beginning to get used to the tinge of pain.

"Is that okay?" Louis asked, a slow but steady rhythm as he pushed the two fingers in, then out, Harry clenching around him. Harry breathlessly nodded. "Can I speed it up a little?" Harry nodded again.

Louis increased the speed slightly, and all of a sudden, the movements spurred on a pang of pleasure deep inside Harry. His eyes fluttered shut, gasping in a huge breath of air before releasing it as a long, high whimper.

"Fuck yes, that's more like it." Louis grinned. "Is that feeling good now?"

"It still hurts a bit but it-it's good." Harry managed. Louis increased the movement even more, in and out at a faster pace, and Harry gripped into the sheets and let out a wavered moan.

" _Yeees._ " He moaned out. "Faster, fuck me with them."

"Holy shit, that's hot." Louis huffed, wiping off a layer of perspiration from his forehead with his free hand. He began a staggeringly fast pace in and out of Harry with the two fingers, until his whole arm ached, and Harry began slowly grinding down his hips against the movements. "That's it, taking it so well."

"It feels amazing." Harry gasped out, laying a forearm over his forehead in bliss, other arm vigorously working to pump his cock along to the thrusting of Louis' hand.

"Yeah?" Louis purred, moaning deep in the back of his throat. "Wonder what your friends would think if they knew I was finger-fucking you next door to them."

Harry huffed out a louder moan, eyes fluttering open to meet Louis' gaze. Utter bliss was written all over his face as he looked hazily at Louis, his plump lips parted and releasing heavy, desparate breaths.

"I'm so close already." Harry sighed euphorically, tugging fast on his dick.

Louis' fingers were knuckle-deep with each thrust, breathing through gritted teeth and releasing a breathy moan with each exhale. Harry's breathing was becoming more ragged, his wrist desparetely twisting as he fisted at his cock, chest heavy up and down.

"I'm gonna cum." He breathed, eyelids close to falling shut. "Louis, I'm gonna..."

"Do you want me to make you cum _really_ hard, hmm?" Louis purred, voice laced with nothing but pure lust. 

Harry quickly nodded, his body sheen with sweat. Louis used his free hand to remove Harry's hand from where he wanked himself off, to Harry's dismay, his hands laying at his sides.

"Okay." Louis smirked, smugly. He hooked his fingers inside Harry all of a sudden, rubbing against an undiscovered spot inside him that drove him absolutely crazy: his prostate. He began wildly sobbing with pleasure, head hitting the headboard behind him, eyes fluttering shut. His body began shaking, whole torso jolting forwards as streaks of cum flew from the head of his dick without it even being stroked to orgasm.

He was loudly crying out a whimper, feeling tears actually welling in the corners of his eyes due to how fucking good that felt, and Louis withdrew his fingers finally to watch Harry in amazement. Harry's whimpers turned to heavy breaths, body still trembling slightly, feeling like his head was spinning and his stomach was completely clenched up.

His eyes fluttered open, meeting Louis', and the shy smile was back, despite having just experienced the most powerful orgasm of his entire life at the hands of Louis Tomlinson.


	14. Fourteen

"I'm pretty sure you just had convulsions." Louis smugly remarked, still lightly panting merely from how hard he had been working to get Harry off. "I can tell that was your first _real_ orgasm. Right?"

Harry felt he was blushing. "Well... yes, it was." He piped up.

"I've honestly never seen anybody cum so hard, holy shit!" Louis chuckled, taking a deep breath before releasing it in another sharp laugh. "It was absolutely incredible."

He grabbed some tissues from a tissue box on his bedside table, dropping a few by Harry's arm.

"It _felt_ incredible. Thank you." Harry timidly muttered, using the tissue to wipe up the cum streaked up his stomach. Louis watched him carefully. Harry launched the scrunched up tissue into the bin across the room, before reaching over the bed for his discarded clothing, slipping back into his underwear.

"No problem." Came Louis' delayed reply, as he fondly smiled at Harry. "I can't believe I got to be your first. Again. Anybody would have been lucky to witness that, _God._ "

"You'll make me blush again, stop that!" Harry gushed, sweetly covering his face with his hands, which seemed habitual for him now.

Louis breathily laughed, and then there was quite a silence to follow. Harry got beneath the cold covers during the quiet, settling back against the pillow again, just staring at Louis for a moment. He tiled his head aside slightly in thought before he filled the silence, realising Louis wasn't going to do it.

"So you're straight?" The question fell from his lips, the word _'straight'_ feeling acidic in his mouth. Pairing such a word with Louis' name did not make Harry feel very buoyant.

"Yes."

"But... you were saying how hot all of that was, how incredible it was. I don't _understand._ "

"Let's not talk about this now," Louis waved a hand, "Let's go to sleep now, come on."

Well... okay. Clearly somebody was a bit insecure about their sexuality. Thanks to Harry. Wow. Louis, still wonderfully topless, moved from the bed over to the makeshift, rather uncomfortable bed on the floor, after switching out the main light in the room so just a lamppost's glow from outside the window pooled into the room. The sudden darkness contrasted greatly to the previous brightness, and Harry was still rather shaken up (in the best way possible). He attempted to fully lie down, the silence deafening as it hung above them. Louis moved around a bit, getting comfortable, before he stopped completely and there was no sound in the room.

Harry's brain was still whirring. There was an ache now in his bum, a dull pain that bored into him, but his heart was still irregularly thudding and there was a sense of calm over him from the past orgasm's sheer intensity. _He finally knew what it felt like to have something inside of him._ And he had never felt something so good, so powerful, in his entire life. He could only _imagine_ actually getting fucked by somebody. The thought made his breath hitch, while his mind constructed that 'somebody' as being Louis. He composed himself, drawing in a deep breath and trying to close his eyes. All he could see in his mind was Louis right above him. Shit.

There was no formal 'good night', just an unfillable silence that sent them both to sleep.

* * *

" _Harry_." A frantic whisper ripped Harry from his sleep, pretty much a metaphorical slap in the face. His eyes prised open, finding Louis perched on the edge of the bed. Seeing Louis' face again, so suddenly, caused him to inhale a harsh breath of air, memories of what had happened last night flooding into his brain.

"Oh, hi." He mumbled, smiling tiredly at him.

"I've got to get you home, as soon as possible. Before everybody else wakes up. Okay?"

Harry sleepily groaned, rubbing his eyes with the backs of his hands. "Tired." He mumbled, drunken with sleep.

"I know, baby." Louis whispered. The pet name, a repeat of last night's, made Harry shiver. He was very much awake now, moving to sit up and stretch his arms above him.

"What's the time?" He croaked out.

"Quarter past six in the morning." Louis informed, after checking his phone. Harry groaned even louder.

"That _early_?" He protested. "Could we at least have another hour?"

"I'm just taking precautions here. Unless you want Zayn to find out you slept in my _room_ with me." Louis argued. Harry was embracing how hot Louis sounded in the morning, the slightly gruff edge to his voice from not long being awake. Harry scooped up his jeans and t-shirt from the floor once Louis had stood up, slipping into his clothes and joining Louis on his feet. Immediately, Harry winced through gritted teeth at the seething pain in his bum. 

" _Fuck_ , that hurts."

"It would do, you're not used to it. It'll settle down soon, don't worry." Louis was shaking on his jacket now, while Harry grabbed his phone (which had just 4% battery.) Louis quietly led them out of his bedroom, padding across the carpet and down the staircase. They slid on their shoes, Harry's stomach still bubbling with excitement as he recalled over and over in his head what he and Louis had done last night. He just couldn't get over it. His life was going so well now Louis was in on all of this.

Just as they were about to leave the house, the living room door swung open. Harry was relieved to see that it wasn't Zayn, but shocked all the same that anybody was there so early. It was Aaron, the gawky, fair-haired lad. He was rubbing his temples to aid his hangover, stopping in his tracks when he found Louis and Harry in the middle of making their escape.

"Hi?" Aaron seemed to be directing it as a question due to the ring in his tone. "I thought he went home?" He asked, pointing at Harry.

"Don't tell Zayn." Louis instantly whispered, half a whisper actually. "It's a long story, Harry is having some trouble at home."

_Partly true._ But still not something Harry wanted disclosed.

"Then... why should I not tell Zayn?" Aaron quizzed, seemingly trying to analyse the situation himself by looking over the two of them. For fuck's sake, why did Louis have to go and blurt that out without thinking?

"Because he's a prick. He enjoys laughing at people's misfortunes." Louis saved it. "I'm just driving him home now. Okay?"

"Whatever, where's your bathroom? I need a piss." Aaron already forgot about their previous conversation, seemingly. Louis directed him up the stairs before he and Harry finally unlocked the front door and left the building.

"Sorry about that, bad timing." Louis apologised, as they strolled over to his car.

"It's not your fault," Harry assured, "Just good it wasn't Zayn, eh?"

Louis hummed in agreement, as they climbed into his BMW, which was cold and crisp inside due to the early morning Sunday air. Louis fiddled with the radio before starting the car and continuing the conversation.

"Yeah, I'm glad it wasn't. But believe me, if he says anything more about you, a single thing, he's getting knocked out. I wish I was joking." Louis hissed. "Seriously, I should be more tough on him."

Harry didn't reply. He was instead watching the trees pass out of the window on his left, resting his chin on his palms as he did. He was really hoping his set of house keys were in his coat pocket still, seeing as it was only coming up to half past six in the morning, and his family wouldn't exactly be happy to have him banging on the door to be let in.

"Are you okay with going home, Harry?" Louis asked, taking Harry's reflective silence as being negative. He most likely assumed Harry was living in a fucking war-torn home.

"I'm okay, yeah. Don't worry about it." He disbanded, smiling reassuringly at Louis.

"Everything's okay at home, then? I'm not trying to be intrusive, I just ca-"

"You just care, I know. It means a lot. I mean, it's my parents, they argue a lot. Nothing too bad." He shrugged, keeping his gaze trained ahead now.

"How often is 'a lot'?" Louis pushed. "Every so often? Every day?"

"Pretty much every day. I've learnt to block it out mostly, it just gets too much sometimes." He pouted his mouth to the side as he remembered the worst of times, times when he'd have to turn his music to full volume to drown out the shouting.

"Oh. I'm sorry about that, Harry." Louis apologised, clearly not knowing how else to respond.

Sadly, Harry realised that Louis was his escape from it. Whenever he was having a particularly bad day, and his parents were battling with their words, Harry would think about Louis and find himself smiling. Especially now, now it'd be all he needed. The way Louis called him _baby_ , like he was the most precious thing in the world. And how he was so gentle with him last night, wanted to make him feel as good as possible. He was a caring guy, which he had seemed to have slowly become since the first ever day.

"Are you going to get out now?" Louis smirked. Harry broke from his daze to realise they were parked right outside his house, Louis having remembered the address from last time.

"Oh-- _oh_! Yeah, sorry, I guess I'm still tired!" Harry jittered, having to take three attempts to unclip the seatbelt with his stumbling hands. "Thank you, Louis."

"No problem, Harry."

Harry glanced over at Louis with a little smile. God, Louis looked hot in the morning, his hair just fluffy and ruffled, eyes not completely awake and alert yet. He was so sexy, it was basically unfair.

"You look so hot," Harry stuttered out under his breath, followed by a nervous laugh. "Bye."

"Get outta' my car." Louis jokingly snided, with a contradictory smile. "I'll see you around, Harry."

Harry thanked him once more before sliding out of the car, his coat draped over his arm, slamming the door and trudging up the path to his house. He was internally cringing due to the fact he had blurted out that Louis looked 'so hot', whether or not it was under his breath, because Louis hadn't said anything to follow it up. Maybe he hadn't even heard it. Harry kind of hoped he hadn't now.

Luckily, he did have his key, so he quietly unlocked his house and entered without even turning back to wave at Louis. He then hated himself even more for being so rude, kicking off his shoes and poking his head into the living room. Gemma was curled up on the sofa, the remote control half laying in her hand, an old episode of _Great British Bake Off_ flashing from the screen. Harry sadly smiled, realising she must have been unable to sleep and therefore came downstairs in the night to watch some TV, as she usually did. He switched off the television, leaving the room in silence, moving the remote control to sit on the coffee table instead. He retrieved a fluffy blanket from inside the cupboard by the TV stand, gently laying it over Gemma's sleeping body. 

"I am awake, by the way." Gemma's voice startled him, causing him to physically jump back in fright. She opened one eye sleepily, an amused smile on her face. "Ive just been sleeping on and off this morning. And just so you know, when I heard a car pulled up, I peeked out the curtains and saw a nice car drop you off."

"You creep, spying on me out the window." Harry teased, sitting down next to her on the sofa. "So you then decided you'd pretend to be asleep?"

"Exactly. Whose car was it? Stop trying to get out of answering."

"Liam's."

"Liam has a different car, I already know that. Was it his brother's car?" She gasped, eyebrows lifting. "What was his name, Lucas?"

"Louis." Harry corrected. "And so what if it _was_?"

"Then I want to know why it was _him_ who dropped you off, and why it is so early! I don't need to be having words with him, do I? I don't need a twenty-year-old corrupting my little brother." Gemma remarked.

_He definitely corrupted Harry enough last night, holy shit._ But she didn't need to know anything about that.

"No, Gem!" Harry pretended to be repulsed, scrunching up his nose. "You do not need to be having words. He just dropped my off early because I wasn't feeling well, and he was the only other person awake."

" _Right._ " Gemma wore an unconvinced expression. "Whatever you say. Just remember what I said about not getting involved with him, how somebody his age wouldn't want to date someone your age."

How lovely of her to say. Evidently someone of Louis' age didn't mind _fingering_ someone of Harry's age, despite the fact he got nothing out of it. He just wanted to make Harry feel really good for the first proper time. That was a point that contradicted Louis' 'straight boy' facade, immediately.

"Whatever, it's not like I'm trying to fuck him." Harry rolled his eyes.

He really was. Ha.

"Language, Harry." Gemma scolded. "Since when do you swear? I bet that's him, does he swear a lot?"

_When he's turned on, especially, he does._

"No. Stop assuming everything is because of him, I just said I think he's attractive." Harry argued. "I'm going to go and get some more sleep."

"Okay. Sorry, Harry."

"Whatever." He sassed, storming out of the room.

* * *

Harry woke up once again at twenty-two minutes past eleven that morning, feeling far more revitalised and a lot less snappy. He checked his phone to find two messages: from Liam and Louis. Obviously, he checked the one from Louis first.

**Louis Tomlinson:** _Hi harry, could i just remind you not to mention anything to absolutely anyone please ? thanks !_

Harry had no one to tell anyway - even Gemma was being stubborn about the topic of Louis. And he wasn't exacty going to go blurting it out to Liam or Niall either. 

**Harry Styles:** _I won't._

He left it blunt and short, not wanting to come across as being too forward or desperate. The message from Liam was one that Harry opened and read, yet didn't reply to. He was still pretty mad with his friends, even if they were drunk and didn't fully know what they were doing of saying. 

**Liam Tomlinson:** _I will be honest harry, idk what exactly went on last night but when I realised you were gone this morning I assumed it's for a bad reason??? I'm so sorry whatever happened :(((_

Harry locked his phone without replying. He definitely preferred Louis over his friends right now, how he actually truly cared about his feelings. Another message came through from Louis while Harry was thinking about him. It made him shiver. 

**Louis Tomlinson:** _So that felt really good last night yeah ?_

Harry smirked to himself, sitting up more against his bed's headboard. He liked these types of conversation with Louis, the ones with the undertone of flirtation. 

**Harry Styles:** _So good. Unbelievably good. I think my reaction told you that though_

It _really_ had, Harry had never had such little control over his bodily movements. It was incredible. 

**Louis Tomlinson:** _Just wait until it's my dick inside you then_

**Louis Tomlinson:** _i didn't mean to say mine i meant a. Just wait until it's A dick inside you. Awkward haha stupid autocorrect._

So blissfully obvious that Louis was lying. Either his brain had gotten ahead of itself and he had spontaneously written about himself fucking Harry, or he was pretending to be joking to get a reaction from Harry. Either of those options was rather interesting. Harry nibbled on his lower lip, biting back a smile. 

**Harry Styles:** _Would you want to fuck me then?_

Risky. So risky, but it matched Harry's mood. He wanted to be a bit precarious with his response, instead of sticking to the boring stuff. Louis took a little longer to reply this time, but one came through in time. 

**Louis Tomlinson:** _I'd make you cum twice as hard. Just a shame I'm straight isn't it? Sorry Harry._

He was not straight. In fact, Harry would bet all the money he's ever had on Louis being at least bisexual, and now all he could think about was getting fucked hard by Louis. It made his breath waver just to think about. 

But just as long as Liam and Niall didn't know. What they didn't know couldn't hurt them, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn lou just admit it


	15. Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday to the Greek God/Angel/pure blessing that is Louis Tomlinson. How is our baby 26? Jesus, time flies :'(

Dread filled Harry when he realised he would have to face Liam and Niall at school. He had been ignoring them completely over social media, despite the onslaught of messages he had received since his mates had woken up to hangovers but not Harry. They didn't even know what had happened, how rude they had been to him, and he really wasn't in the mood to start explaining it all over again. In a way, he liked how guilty he felt about what he had done with Louis, how Liam was completely oblivious to his best friend and brother doing something so filthily intimate. It was laughable. Harry liked the power of it.

He didn't meet them on the corner of his street to walk to school, as he usually did, and instead got a rare lift from his mum. She was usually too busy doing whatever else, telling Harry he could walk and save her the hassle. On the journey there, even more texts were beeping through from Liam and Niall.

 **Niall:** _Where r u? We were waiting on the corner 4 like ten minutes.._

 **Liam:** _Something is really wrong isn't it.?! Me and Niall waited and you werent there, are you coming in to skl today???_

He did reply this time, only because turning up having not replied to any of their text messages was a bit _more_ than rude. He sent the exact same reply to each of them.

 **Harry:** _I am coming in. My mum's just dropping me off now._

He didn't know for how long he should hold a grudge against them, when they didn't know what they had done wrong in the first place. It just hurt him how Liam had so moodily said _'For fuck's sake, go then.'_ Harry may have been overly sensitive, especially considering Liam was drunk when he had said it, but it did have a negative impact on his feelings. He couldn't help that. Maybe he could just act dramatically lugubrious today.

Liam and Niall swarmed around him immediately in the car park, as enthusiastic as a family seeing their hospitalised son after a tragic coma.

"Harry! What's wrong man? Talk to us!" Niall proclaimed. "We've been so worried! You've been completely ignoring us."

"It's nothing." Harry shrugged, dismissing it entirely, beginning to lead his friends towards the main entrance to the school building. He couldn't even look Liam in the damn eye, not when all he could think about was Louis.

"Clearly it is. Were we mean to you or something?" Liam figured. "Or is it something else altogether? Did something happen at _home_?"

"Just forget about it." Harry countered, not even bothering to hold the door into the building for them. He could just sense the bewildered looks they exchanged behind his back, the look that said _'What the hell has gotten into him?'_

He was walking a few strides ahead of them, feeling the presence of them behind him but paying them no notice as they headed through the hallways. They were ghosting him for a good five minutes, muttering things to each other, but then their presence disappeared after a while. They unanimously decided to stray away from Harry, the whole "two can play at that game" bullshit, and Harry was left alone. He skipped their registration period, fully aware that the school would think he was absent and call home, but he didn't care. How nice of his friends it was, to abandon him completely just because he didn't want to open up -- _not._

He skipped their first lesson of the day, maths, and instead decided to take a walk on the large field behind the school. There was a burning need inside of him to message Louis and tell him he felt alone, that his friends had abandoned him again, but it was more complicated than that. Louis was Liam's older brother, so he would inevitably have a talking to him later about why he was leaving Harry out (which Harry didn't want).

He resisted the urge to message Louis in any format, putting his phone away to tackle the temptations. When he remembered that teachers at the school sometimes patrolled the grounds to make sure all students were in their lessons, he headed back into the school building and decided to stop being so infantile. Maybe he was taking it all a bit too far, literally avoiding a maths lesson to get his point across to his friends that he was pissed. He decided to 'man up' and return to the lesson (which may or may not have actually been because he realised Liam was his easiest access point to Louis. But that didn't have to be known.)

He sat on his usual seat with the two of them, after his pathetic excuse for his lateness regarded having to run some coursework over to a teacher the other side of the school campus. Such a lie. Niall and Liam stared at him, expressionless, but when Harry offered a small smile, they seemed to forgive his unforseen attitude already, probably just glad he stopped acting so emotionally vacant.

Over lunch, he did end up explaining to them what had happened that drunken night at Liam's house - minus the fact that he had stayed the night in Louis' room after letting him finger him. They definitely didn't need to know _that._ And he received wholehearted apologies despite their cluelessness at the time, and promises of it never happening again.

The day dragged on, but Harry felt exhilarated when Liam invited them both round to his house to, quote: _"Hang out at my place properly again without anybody getting upset."_ The only thing that would upset Harry was how dangerously beautiful Louis was, but that was nothing new. It was insane the way Harry was still nervous about seeing Louis. God, he had done more with him than anybody else _ever_ , and perhaps that was why. Louis knew what Harry looked like fully naked, had felt his body, watched him shake through an orgasm; Harry had a bit of a right to feel awkward.

Louis' car was parked in the drive when the three of them arrived. For Harry's sake, Liam had text Louis asking if Zayn was there, and their text conversation went like this:

 **Liam:** _Is Zayn there?_

 **Louis:** _No why? Is Harry coming round??_

 **Liam:** _And niall_

 **Louis:** _Yeah yeah I know! I didn't forget about him_

Harry liked that - Louis' straightforward willingness: _is Harry coming round?_ His mind had immediately spun into a muted panic mode, maybe excitement, and that made Harry feel happy.

Louis was 'coincidentally?' sat in the kitchen when they entered, scrolling through his phone. Harry almost had to take a step back, having not expected to see him so suddenly, plus Louis looked purely inviting with his hair so ruffled and messy that he could have just rolled out of bed. Why did he rock the careless, negligent look so easily? Not to mention how dressed down he was, in black sweatpants and a loose grey t-shirt. And of course, his eyes met with Harry's the moment he looked up from his phone screen.

Then a smirk slowly stretched onto his face, the _'remember what we did?'_ smirk, one that made Harry nervously smile through a blush and look down, yet didn't cause Liam or Niall to bat an eyelid: they saw it as a part Louis' usual behaviour to smugly smile in greeting.

"You alright, guys?" He addressed, slyly allowing his eyes to dart down Harry's body so quickly. Even Harry almost missed it, but he shuffled on his feet more from being positively flustered than uncomfortable. He wanted Louis' eyes (and hands) on him.

"Yeah," Liam muttered, pouring his friends a drink without even asking. "What are you doing?"

_Secretly checking out your best mate without you realising._

"Just browsing my phone." Louis brightly informed, waving his device to animate this.

"Are you already on Tinder again? Things with Eleanor not patched up?" Liam nonchalantly asked his brother, while handing the beverages over to Harry and Niall. Harry felt himself seething with jealousy at the thought of Louis having an account on a dating app, where many, many girls could match with him and message him and be startled by his beauty.

Louis looked Harry dead in the eye. "No, I'm not interested in Eleanor anymore."

 _What?_ Was supposedly 'straight' Louis Tomlinson really conveying to Harry that maybe he was interested in _him_? No, Harry was looking too far into it again, surely. He hated the side of his mind that over-analysed every little thing Louis said or did.

"Fair enough." Liam shrugged. "Saves me hearing that headboard banging against my wall."

Again, Louis glanced at Harry, this time more piercingly, so deeply that Harry felt like he was being genuinely hypnotised. "I'm sure I can find someone else to fuck against your wall, Li."

"Really? Not sure there would be any takers." Liam crudely mocked.

"People would be lining up if they knew what I could do to them." Louis lowly commented. That did it for Harry, along with the intense eye content.

" _Fuck me._ " He breathed, before he could stop it. It felt like his heart momentarily stopped, having not intended to say that whatsoever but being so enthralled in Louis that it just came out. He prayed nobody heard... but obviously glanced up to find three pairs of eyes burning into him. _GOD, OH NO._

"...what?" Liam slowly asked, a confused smile and furrowed eyebrows, while Niall chuckled in bewilderment and Louis looked absolutely terrified with worry.

"I... I was joking, Liam." Harry laughed, tripping over his own words, not even daring to look Louis in the eye.

"Oh!" Liam immediately bought it, showering the air with an exuberant laugh. "I was gonna say! That would be a bit weird, my brother fucking my best mate next door to me, imagine that!"

 _If only he knew._ Maybe Harry should become a psychic, because he could so see that happening in the future. He was going to _make_ it happen.

"Yeah," Louis laughed along, as casually as he could muster, "Hit me up, Harry, I'm single."

Then he dropped Harry a wink that said so much more than Liam and Niall knew. Harry was internally screaming, his stomach sparking with excitement: was that actually a hint from Louis, by telling him he was single? Was he really straight? Harry didn't believe it for one second anyway, he just needed Louis to admit it.

The urge he had to sleep with Louis had never been stronger. They had done almost everything else together, bar the actual sex. And, actually, they hadn't kissed. Harry had thought about kissing Louis a lot, wondering how Louis' lips would taste, and how he would kiss someone. Was he a slow and tender kisser, who caressed the face as he went, or was he more one for fast, steamy, handsy make-out sessions? Or maybe he gradually progressed from the first type to the second? It was something Harry desparetely wanted to find out. But Louis was straight, so...

"The tension in the room is too unbearable, I think we better go upstairs now." Niall joked, rather flatly, placing his empty glass down onto the counter. Harry really wanted to stay with Louis in the kitchen, but there was no way of doing so without it being plain strange. He had no choice but to trail off behind his friends out of the room, being the one to look _Louis_ up and down this time as he left. He thought he would leave that lingering glance with him.

* * *

**Louis Tomlinson:** _Had to go and blurt that out earlier Harry??? Maybe you're harder to contain than I thought._

Was that flirting? Harry thought very much that Louis as flirting. And it was while Harry was sat with Liam and Niall, in the former's bedroom, which made it even more amazingly wrong. He was more than glad that Louis had been the one to message first, as he would have never bigged himself up enough to do it first.

 **Harry Styles:** _Couldn't help it, I guess I was mesmerised._

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _It's so bad that we're doing this you know_

Harry didn't want Louis to start feeling too guilty. He couldn't allow it to happen, any chance that Louis could back out of this. Whatever 'this' was.

 **Harry Styles:** _Doing what? We're only messaging._

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _It's not just messaging though. There's something about the secrecy that I like tho, I dunno i can't explain it._

Harry felt exactly the same. He was glad Louis was swaying more towards that explanation, rather than feeling too awkward about hiding their heart eyes.

 **Harry Styles:** _So do I. I can't stop thinking about what you did to me._

There was a bubbling feeling in Harry's stomach from talking this way to Louis. Could it be considered dirty talk? Perhaps. He liked it, especially when Liam and Niall were obliviously talking about the new season of a TV show they were watching, paying no attention to Harry's fond smile and fast moving thumbs as he typed.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _You know, you are a completely different person online than when I see you in person. You're so shy, always looking at your feet_

That was so true. It was mostly due to the reminder Harry got when seeing Louis in person than he was the hottest human being on this earth. And he couldn't hold the eye contact, couldn't handle the up-and-down glances he got. It was way too hot.

 **Harry Styles:** _I know, I just get nervous. I'm sorry._

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Definitely do not apologise. I like it. It's kinda hot how I'm corrupting you ;)_

Harry breathed out an extra sharp laugh through his nose, so he grabbed the attention of Niall.

"What you up to, Styles?" He sang, jumping to his feet and coming dangerously close to seeing Harry's screen before he managed to shield it away from view.

"None of your business."

"It _is_ , though, we're all mates." Liam broke in, a smirk prominent.

"I'm just... messaging someone."

"Who?" Niall pushed. "You got a new beau?"

_Yeah, Liam's brother._

"No, it's just a friend." He lied. He hoped Louis wasn't just a friend. He wanted him to be a fucking husband.

"Yeeeah, right. We will find out, Harry, believe us." Liam challengingly winked. God, hopefully they didn't, probably for Liam's sake.

"Whatever you saaay." Harry playfully directed back, quickly typing his response to Louis.

 **Harry Styles:** _Corrupt me some more._

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _I just can't do any more corrupting, I'm afraid._

Harry sighed to himself. Hopefully Louis would come around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some v interesting stuff to come. Sorry if this was a little boring today!
> 
> Now I'm going to go and watch Louis videos (at 1am) to celebrate his 26th year gracing this earth.


	16. Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Merry Christmas everyone (it's gone midnight here in England). I hope those of you who celebrate it have a wonderful Christmas, and those who don't have an equally wonderful day anyway xx

Harry tried fingering himself that night, wanting to revisit that euphoric state of ecstasy that Louis had brought him to, but it just didn't feel right doing it himself. Never had he been so overwrought with sexual frustration in his entire life, knowing he would give absolutely _anything_ to have Louis doing dirty things with him again. It just irritated him that Louis was playing hard to get, effectively, by constantly stating that he was straight. He really wasn't. Bicurious, at the least.

For the rest of the school week, Liam didn't invite Harry and Niall over, which had become strangely routinely of him before now. Harry didn't exchange any more messages with Louis either, the most recent on being Louis' infuriating one of: _'I just can't do any more corrupting, I'm afraid.'_ Clearly it had pissed Harry off, so much so that he refused to reply. He didn't want to come across as needy and compliant to Louis' games, so he left it read. Harry tried not to obsess too much over Louis over the past week, although a very delightful new cover photo of Louis and Liam did cross Harry's Facebook feed from Louis' profile.

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=4g6jbn)

God, Harry was so bad at resisting the temptation to think about Louis constantly. It was so unexplainably difficult to avoid.

He made it to Saturday again, no exchanged messages, only a few (okay, loads of) thoughts about Louis through that time. If Louis was going to play hard to get and pretend to be straight, then Harry was going to pretend not to care anymore... when really he did.

It was only ten minutes past eleven that Saturday morning, and Liam had taken the role of being on till at the bakery, while Niall produced the fresh items ready to bake, and Harry had been instructed by Ed to stock out some new drinks in the fridge by the main door. He didn't mind stocking, it was easy enough, but he would rather be smashing the hell out of some dough with a rolling pin to abolish some agonising frustration within himself.

His hands were cold from dipping in and out of the fridges to date-rotate and stock the drinks, and he just wanted to go home and sleep. The bell above the door rang as he was trying to balance the Fanta cans perfectly onto the shelf, and he twisted around to wheel his trolley full of drinks out of the path of the doorway to see that a teenage boy had entered. He looked rather endearing, with ruffled, dark brown hair and a freckled nose, eyes piercing and light green. Harry gave a welcoming smile but tried not to creepily stare, knowing he sometimes gave off that vibe if he tried too hard to show good customer service.

"Hi, could I just grab a drink from there?" Mystery boy queried, trying to reach over Harry's shoulder.

"Yes, yeah, go ahead." Harry stumbled over his own words, stepping out of the way to allow the mellow-voiced boy to grab a bottle of Coke.

"Thank you..." The boy eyed Harry's name tag, "...Harry."

"No problem..." Harry's stupid _fricking_ flirting attempt had him pretending humorously to look for the boy's imaginary name tag, which luckily was laughed at.

"I'm Jamie." He brightly chuckled, but didn't leave much more to be said before he headed towards the till and placed down the bottle. Niall was smirking over at Harry from where he was kneading some dough, causing Harry to playfully roll his eyes. His friends always seemed to know when he was attracted to a guy, probably because he had an unorthodox way of flirting and seemed to stutter.

Harry could hear Liam having a good chat with Jamie at the till, a casual conversation that made it seem they were already good mates, and heard them exchanging names. Maybe this Jamie guy really wanted new friends.

"I'm new here," Jamie spoke up, answering Harry's internal questions. "Just trying to put some names to faces, you know. You guys all looked approachable, so why not?" He glanced back at Harry in particular, a playful smile. Harry hoped his charm, as usual, had worked in attracting Jamie already. That would be very decent. Jamie was cute, indeed, and Harry picked up on a slight Essex accent.

"Well, we're always up for hanging out with new people," Niall chipped in, "I'm Niall. If you ever wanna hang out with us, just let us know. We're here every Saturday. Harry's single."

" _Niall._ " Harry whined, stifling a laugh at Niall's immediate cupid attempt. It would be awkward if Jamie wasn't even into guys, and they had all misinterpreted his glances towards Harry in a different way than they should have.

But luckily, this wasn't the case.

"Surprised he's single, actually." Jamie admitted, sending a smile Harry's way. "I am too."

Okay, Harry, calm down. The hot boy is single and seems okay with not being straight (totally not Harry's internal dig at somebody else in particular) was this too good to be true? Amazing.

"Maybe you two should get to know each other, it's a good coincidence two guys are interested in other guys here. I'm assuming you are into guys Jamie?" Liam posed the question. Why had this conversation turned personal so quickly? Jamie seemed casual about it, not fazed with being in the spot, but Harry could have cried with awkwardness.

"Bi, yeah. More options, ennit?" Jamie suggested, with a simple shrug. "I'm pretty much down to fuck, anyway."

 _Okay, wow._ Harry choked out a laugh, because _that_ was very forward indeed. Jamie oozed confidence, clearly, while the bravest thing Harry had done since Jamie walked in was pretend to look for a fucking name tag on him to ask for an introduction.

"Very casual way to live. Wanna hang out with us at my place tomorrow?" Liam offered, finally processing the payment and putting the fiver given by Jamie into the till.

"Sure, why not?" Jamie shrugged, pulling a tissue from the dispenser on the counter and whipping a pen from his pocket. (Who the hell just carries a pen around?) Maybe this guy gave his number out a lot. Seemed confident enough to. "Here's my number, you can all put it into your phones and just text me tonight?"

Why had this happened so quickly? They had picked up a new friend just like that, although they didn't know him very well yet, and he was already coming round to _Liam's..._ SHIT, LOUIS! Harry would have to face him again, after the mental trek to forget about him temporarily. It was both exciting and nerve-wracking, but Harry was going to devote most of his time to getting to know Jamie instead.

* * *

Louis wasn't at their house when Harry and Niall arrived at midday on Sunday. It did put a sinking feeling in Harry's stomach, yet he had to remind himself that he was keeping up with Louis on the 'hard to get' facade. Jamie must have wanted to arrive fashionably late - either that or he wasn't coming at all.

"Someone remind me why a guy we met literally _yesterday_ is coming to hang out with us?" Harry chuckled, as the three of them lounged on Liam's living room sofa.

"Well, he seems nice. And he seems to like the look of you, H. Maybe you could end up with him." Niall wiggled his eyebrows. "It'd be about time you had a boyfriend, you're the only one of us three who hasn't been in a proper relationship yet."

"Yeah, thanks for the reminder, Niall." Harry rolled his eyes. "It's a little harder for me, preferring guys."

The doorbell rang then, spurring Liam to jump to his feet to go and answer it. Harry felt nervous now, feeling like he was literally about to start his first fucking date with the guy. He could hear Jamie's lively voice greeting Liam in the hallway, then they entered the room. Jamie wore a stylish leather jacket over a plain white tee, paired with ripped black jeans and white Converses.

"Hey, guys, you alright?" He greeted, the Essex accent more prominent in that sentence, taking a seat by Harry on the sofa. Harry tensed slightly from trying to stay too relaxed.

"Yeah, good." He nodded. Jamie _smelt_ good. Why was Harry so stupidly nervous around hot guys? All the time.

"Anyway, Jamie," Liam began, and Harry could have sworn he saw a smirk. "Is Harry your type?"

Harry wanted to push him down from where he perched on the arm of the sofa. His friends always loved to put him on the spot, desperate to get him a boyfriend.

"Definitely, fuck yeah. He's well hot." Jamie complimented, his accent meaning he dropped the 'h' in 'hot', winking at Harry. Wow, such openness. Harry liked.

"Thank you," He shyly accepted. "You're quite hot too."

"Liam, mate, I'm starting to think you invited me here to set me up with Harry." Jamie smugly grinned, playing with a stray thread from the ripped knee of his jeans. "Not that I'm complaining."

Harry giggled to himself as Jamie shifted closer, positioning an arm around him. This was going swimmingly. Well, it was until Louis arrived home with a slam of the door, seemingly just as Jamie had began cosying up to Harry. He swung open the living room door, freezing in place when his eyes came across Jamie and Harry. They couldn't look any less like a couple, Harry with his legs drawn up on the couch in front of him, Jamie's arm loosely over his shoulder.

"Hi?" Louis tried to greet everyone casually, but it came out more as a question. Probably a case of 'What the fuck, Harry? What happened to us?' which was unfair considering the way he had been acting.

"This is Jamie, Louis. We've been trying to set him up with Harry since he arrived." Liam notably informed him, with a proud smirk. Louis was looking directly at Harry, opposed to taking in the new boy and his name, and Harry stared right back.

"I've got some stuff I've got to be doing." Without a further word or any form of introduction, Louis left the room. He just turned and left with a slam of the door, nothing more than that. Harry should have felt more awful (of course he did a little) but it was Louis' fault for pushing Harry away so much. Now he knew the consequences.

"Wow, he's hot too." Jamie laughed. "He's your brother, Liam?"

Yeah, that's where Harry got defensive of Louis, perhaps getting a taste of his own medicine. Louis was his, no matter what the circumstances.

"He really isn't hot," Liam spat, "He's an ugly twat, basically. Don't get anywhere near him."

 _'Yeah,'_ Harry thought. _'Stay away. Mine. Snarl, hiss."_

"I like them a bit like that sometimes." Jamie risked, sending Liam a playful wink. "But I think I'll work on Harry for now."

"Work on me?" Harry laughed, intrigued. "Interested to see how that turns out."

Jamie smiled broadly. "Oh, Harry, you'll see. I will make you absolutely weak at the knees."

Harry didn't really want to be weak at the knees. He wanted to run after Louis and apologise and fall into his arms, but at the same time why should he? Louis was being unfair, claiming he was straight and teasing Harry constantly. Maybe he deserved and bit of revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it was a short one tonight but just thought I'd introduce my new (controversial?) character. Louis sure loves him - not


	17. Seventeen

Jamie remained pretty snugly close to Harry that Sunday afternoon. It was clear he was reluctant to stray away anytime soon, evidently very attracted to Harry and comfortable around him already, but poor Harry's mind kept wandering back to thoughts surrounding Louis. He realised that he found Jamie very attractive, obviously, but he had also noticed that he kept internally comparing him to Louis. Eyes: Jamie's were an iridescent green, Louis' a crystal blue - one point to Louis there, Harry loved his blue eyes. Hair: Harry liked Jamie's ruffled, dark hair, but Louis seemed to manage pulling off the 'messy hair' look more naturally - another point to him. And their personalities, Harry found them ever-so-slightly similar; the smugness, cockiness. The difference between them was that Louis was just _hotter_ whilst acting smug, the squinted eyes and slight smirk, whereas Jamie incorporated it in his speech all the time, so it wasn't so striking. The category Jamie _did_ win a point in was sexuality: he was actually willing to admit the truth about his feelings. Louis was obviously finding it difficult.

They didn't run into him for a while after his speedy departure, so Harry figured he was probably sulking in his bedroom. Poor, jealous guy. It was funny how he was twenty years old, yet he had so stubbornly stormed out of the room. Seemingly, he wasn't having a very lucky afternoon, as he accidentally ran into Harry and Jamie acting too close-knit once again without intending to. This time they were all in the kitchen, Niall and Liam digging through the kitchen cupboards in search of ingredients to make a recipe they had found in one of Jay's cookbooks, as boredom had struck them hard, and Harry was sat next to Jamie on the bar stools. They had grown very comfortable in the space of a day, Jamie tracing patterns over Harry's forearm with his finger as they spoke, looking each other directly in the eye.

Louis had walked into the kitchen while Harry and Jamie were laughing particularly hard at something together, and he saw them, he _clearly_ saw them, but immediately ripped his eyes away to settle on Liam, as though he hadn't witnessed their bonding at all.

"Mum wants to know if there's anything you guys want from Tesco." He flatly asked his younger brother, missing the usual brightness behind his tone; the awaiting smugness. Liam craned his head around from behind an open cupboard door, looking thankful.

"Yes! We are out of a load of things we need to make this," He prodded at the open cookbook, lazily, "thing."

"Well what do you need? Write it down somewhere and I'll grab some stuff for you." Louis muttered, leaning on one hip and trying to look casual. Harry could practically sense his jealousy from across the room, yet he was trying to hide it.

"It's quite a lot of stuff, we might as well come with you. There's enough room in your car, right?" Liam queried, slamming the cupboard door shut.

_Oh no. Liam, no._

"I..." Louis scratched the back of his neck, trying to avoid looking at Harry and Jamie again. "I kind of wanted to be in there quickly then go, no fussing about. It'd be quicker if I just went alone."

"We won't hold you up," Niall promised, "I think I could do with a car ride today, I'm feeling a bit restless. Plus we're all insanely bored."

Louis slowly sighed, having to maturely take into consideration the things Niall had said, and gave in.

"Sure, okay. I don't mind." He scooped up his car keys from where they lay inside a China dish at the edge of the kitchen. "You _all_ coming, then?"

He eyed Harry and Jamie this time, finally straining to acknowledge them, and Harry immediately attempted a smile but it wasn't mirrored back by Louis.

"Yeah!" Jamie chanted aloud, before leaning into Harry's ear and whispering so very badly that it was loud enough for _everyone_ else to hear. "I'm definitely up for being in a car with you _and_ Liam's hot brother."

"Jamiiie! Nooo!" Liam protested in disgust, wrinkling up his nose, while Niall started cackling with laughter and Louis' eyebrows rose slightly.

"Right," Louis mumbled, a subtle amusement in his tone. "Well I'm gonna need someone to help me put up the back seats in my car, I had to flatten them down earlier to bring Zayn's bike back to him."

"I'll do it!" Jamie volunteered, jumping down from the high bar stool, rubbing his hands together. Harry wanted to pull him back by the scruff of his neck and scold him for trying to be alone with Louis.

"You definitely _won't_ ," Liam chipped in with a stark laugh, saving Harry. "I don't think I can trust you around my brother _already_ , and I've only known you a day."

_If only he was wise enough to know that Harry should have been kept away from Louis too._

"Dammit!" Jamie joked, comically clicking his fingers, before giving it up. "I'm only kidding, Harry, there's no need to get jealous."

Harry _was_ jealous, but for the opposite reason than Jamie knew: that he was openly flirting with Louis, and Louis was Harry's. He playfully rolled his eyes at Jamie but didn't verbally respond.

"I'd say Harry's your best bet with help there, Lou, I'm dumb as shit with things relating to cars, and I already know Liam can't be arsed helping." Niall chuckled, nudging his head Harry's way. _Oh, for crying out loud._ Why was it that Harry always managed to end up in these tough situations? At least he could be alone with Louis for a moment, as awkward as that may be.

Louis gave Harry a glance and bland nudge of the head as if to say _'Come on, then'_ before heading out of the kitchen. Harry didn't know why he hesitated to follow, probably because he knew Louis was in some sort of stupid mood with him with the whole Jamie scenario. He wandered out into the hallway and slid on his shoes by the door, and Louis held the front door for him when they reached it, still remaining courteous despite his grievances. They were finally alone again, though it wasn't as blissful as usual. Louis unlocked his car and opened the rear passenger door. The back seats were flattened down, as Louis had explained, needing to be hoisted back into place before anybody could sit in them.

"Louis..." Harry began to speak, wanting to explain himself in some way for having been so close to Jamie, and wanting to know what Louis' problem was, but Louis completely blanked out the starting word by changing the subject.

"You just have to pull that red lever up while I lift the seats back up, you see it?" Louis instructed, deadpan, pointing to the plastic lever beneath the seat. Harry loudly sighed, expressing his annoyance for having been ignored, but Louis still wouldn't change his demeanor. Harry stepped forwards and lifted up the lever while Louis grabbed the seats from beneath, pulling them up with a good deal of strength until they clicked back into their usual position.

" _Louis._ " Harry stated, more earnest and stern than he previously had, voice coming out far colder and louder.

"Harry." Louis skittishly sang back, clearly trying to avoid the fact that there was some prominent tension between them. His childishness was clearly at play.

"Why are you acting so strange?" Harry dropped the question, stepping back from the car and defensively wrapping his hands around himself. Louis' face contorted into a puzzled expression, bottom lip jutting out slightly and eyebrows crinkling.

" _Strange_? I'm not acting strange, am I?" Louis deflected, refusing to make eye contact and pretending to be busy dusting the mud from Zayn's bike wheels off the back of the seats. Harry wanted to groan aloud in frustration. This man was _twenty_ , yet apparently he still wasn't mature enough to face problems head-on.

"Yes, you are," Harry countered, his expression monotone, "You won't even _look_ at me."

Louis turned to face Harry, looking him dead in the eye for a couple of seconds before childishly shrugging, as though to express he wasn't bothered by looking at Harry without a struggle.

"Just forget about it," Harry grumbled, flailing an arm in defeat. "Continue acting weird then, see how I care. You're clearly just having a hard time admitting certain things to yourself." Okay, maybe Harry hadn't intended on letting that final sentence slip out, it just seemed to have had no filter of warning before leaving his mouth, and he watched as Louis' face took on a neurotic expression.

"Admitting certain things to myself? What the fuck's _that_ supposed to mean?" Louis spat, but before Harry could respond, the front door opened and Liam led Niall and Jamie out onto the pebbled driveway. Harry and Louis instantly changed back to calm and casual, smiling coolly at them.

"All done?" Liam queried, idly cracking his knuckles. Harry hated it when he did that, it was a habitual thing that Liam often did to get on his nerves. And no, they _weren't_ done with _arguing_ , but they _had_ pulled the back seats back up, which was obviously what Liam was actually referring to.

"Yeah, yeah, jump in." Louis said, walking around to get into the driver's seat. Harry moodily slumped into the back seat, hating how Niall and Jamie got in on opposite ends so he was forced to take the middle seat (right in the line of sight of the rear-view mirror, which Louis was going to be clearly able to see throughout the entire journey.

Harry had formed a slight detest towards Jamie, seeing as he was the reason for he and Louis' argument, and he realised how unfair it was but he couldn't help it. Jamie patted his leg in a friendly way once Liam had settled into the passenger seat and the car had started moving, but Harry completely ignored the action and kept his gaze trained forward, towards where Liam.

"What's up?" Jamie asked, concerned, his voice coming out loud in the silent car. Harry noticed how Louis momentarily glanced back in the rear-view mirror, taking into account that Jamie and Harry were starting a rather meaningful conversation.

"Nothing."Harry piped up.

"Okay, baby, as long as everything is okay." Jamie smiled. _That was bound to make Louis jealous, the use of the pet name by Jamie._ And it was clear, as Louis' eyes narrowed very slightly, looking out of the windscreen ahead. Harry decided to play along with Jamie's flirtatiousness, his goal to push Louis' buttons even more.

"Yeah, everything is fine." Harry reciprocated the smile. "...Baby."

Jamie widely smiled, about to speak again when Louis leant forward and turned up the radio in one swift motion, the music blaring out and making it impossible for any more words to be coherently exchanged. Harry tried to refrain from smirking at Louis' obviousness. Jealous Louis had been brought out in full force.

* * *

As soon as they got to the supermarket, Louis trailed off on his own after telling Liam to text him when they were done, leaving the rest of them stood by the entrance waiting on somewhere to go.

"Is your brother _always_ moody, Liam?" Jamie pondered, as Liam began leading them towards the dairy aisle to find some milk. Harry tried not to snicker a laugh too loudly, knowing full well why Louis was acting so 'moody.' He was sticking by Niall's side as the biting cold, refrigerator-based air of the aisle they entered hit them, his flimsy jacket not doing much to keep his arms from the cold.

"He's always in some sort of weird mood, but I wouldn't say he's, like, ever in a particularly _bad_ mood." Liam nonchalantly said, browsing the shelves for a bottle of semi-skimmed milk. "Usually he's in his over-confident mood, making dirty jokes or something."

"Interesting," Jamie hummed, "You know why I think he's suddenly in a bad mood? I was thinking about this in the car."

_Oh no. What if he had picked up on something between Harry and Louis? That wouldn't be good, considering it was his first ever day hanging out with them, too. He may have already been on their radar._

"What?" Niall finally spoke up, probably getting bored of his rare lack of dialogue, deciding to enter the discussion.

"Well, Louis knows I think he's hot, right? So what if he's being moody because he's _jealous_ that I've been flirting with Harry all day?" Jamie figured, face stern and fully genuine. Harry wanted to burst out laughing at the theory: a fit of full-on laughter where a slap of the knee and humorously closed eyes were necessary. Was he actually fucking _serious_?

"Why do you think that?" Liam lightly chuckled, placing a bottle of milk into the basket hanging on his arm. He started leading them out of the aisle, now in search of some plain chocolate for their recipe.

"Well, I dunno, maybe he likes it that I think he's hot." Jamie theorised with a little smile, kicking along a little piece of cardboard that was on the smooth floor, avoiding other passing customers like a football player dribbling a ball between defenders.

"It could be true. I mean, I don't think many people have crushes on Louis." Liam smirked at his dig at his older brother. Harry would have been very deeply surprised if not many people had crushed on somebody as handsome as Louis; he was probably one of the most attractive people Harry had ever come across. Plus there was definitely the fact that he had done sexual things with Louis, things he had never let anybody else do, so that obviously made him ever more enticing. He was _dying_ to just blurt it out: 'Louis is MINE. Please leave him alone. I am determined to marry with him. Maybe I can make you all best men, I dunno.'

"Well, I'm shocked then. He's really good looking," Jamie admitted, eyes trailing onto Harry then, "But I _do_ prefer you, Harry."

_Good. Stay away from Louis._

"Thanks." Harry smiled, dimples pushing through in his cheeks. Maybe if he stayed charming as ever, Jamie would steer away from Louis completely and prevent any competition from erupting. Despite Louis' mood, Harry still really badly wanted him, and wanted nobody else to have him. He always would think like this, no matter what.

Their group passed Louis in the supermarket a few minutes later as they crossed to another aisle. As Louis passed by Harry, he tenderly traced his index finger up Harry's forearm, so soft and quick that it almost went unnoticed, but it caused Harry to feel Goosebumps and to smile stupidly to himself. What was that touch supposed to convey? Whatever it was, it plummeted Harry's head into a frenzy, a hopefulness overcoming him. Maybe Louis was trying to admit it, that he _was_ jealous and he _did_ want to be close to Harry. _God,_ the happiness within Harry was indescribable.

Nobody else saw the touch. It remained between Harry and Louis, among the few other things in their experience.

They all met back up outside the shop once they were finished, Liam having paid for everything they had purchased, and Harry loved seeing Louis again.

"Got everything?" Louis casually asked, this time actually making eye contact with Harry. Harry grinned like an idiot, unable to hold it back anymore, and he noticed how Louis trying hard not to do the same thing. It made his stomach flutter. Honestly, he really didn't give two shits about Jamie now, Louis was all he wanted. _Fucking hell._

"Yeah." Liam muttered, stuffing the carrier bag of things into Niall's hands for him to carry instead, to Niall's dismay.

"Alright, let's go." Louis breathed, leading them all back to his car. Harry never wanted to stray away from Louis again, he wanted to run forwards and hold his hand, like a misbehaving toddler who couldn't be trusted to cross a car park unaccompanied. He knew he would definitely be messaging Louis that night, no doubt about that.

* * *

And he did.

 **Harry Styles:** _Hi_

He wasn't going to dive right in with a deep, meaningful message, so he kept it immensely simple. A 'hi' was a good starting message, as it was versatile and could either be merely friendly, or could lead to something more as the conversation progressed. He didn't get a response for ten minutes, despite it clearly displaying to him that Louis was online the entire time, so clearly he was trying to leave a bit of a delay so as not to look too needy - typical.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Hello Harry._

Oh, a full stop. Harry always interpreted them as being a negative piece of punctuation for somebody to use, like they were being particularly blunt in their response and wanted to express their annoyance. Harry obviously replied anyway, continuing the conversation on as if they were two friends of friends who were talking for the first proper time.

 **Harry Styles:** _What are you up to?_

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Talking to you_

Harry breathed out a laugh through his nose, mouth quirking into a smirk.

 **Harry Styles:** _Obviously. Anything else interesting?_

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _I am actually breathing too ;)_

A winky face - GREAT! Cheeky and playful, Harry liked that, it reassured him that Louis' full stop hadn't held the meaning he once thought. Of course he was going to continue conveying the cheekiness in their conversation, knowing it was the best way to get on Louis' best side again.

 **Harry Styles:** _Really? I would have never guessed that Lou ;)_

And yes, he had always had a burning need to drop the final syllable of Louis' name, like they were a real couple. Louis was reading Harry's replies immediately, meaning he was most likely on their conversation on his phone or laptop with his full attention on it. Good news, on Harry's part.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _You and Jamie then. Are you dating or something??_

He had probably been dying to ask Harry something about Jamie all day, but didn't want to do so in person. Probably because he knew he would visibly _look_ jealous saying it to Harry's face, and Harry couldn't physically see him while they were chatting on Facebook so it was safe to ask there.

 **Harry Styles:** _Why does it matter? :)_

Harry wanted to make Louis work a bit to find out some answers, dig a bit deeper to discover how jealous Louis was willing to admit to be.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Just wondering. You looked pretty close so I was wondering. That's all._

No, you're jealous and you don't want to admit it.

 **Harry Styles:** _Oh, okay. Well no, I've literally known him a day, we all met him yesterday when he came into the bakery. But Liam and Niall are trying to set me up with him and he wants to get to know me more so..yeah that explains the closeness_

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Get to know him then :) :) :) You could be a GREAT couple :) :)_

Excessive smiley faces - dangerous. Too many smiley faces very often meant the opposite of happiness, a fabricated smile that hid anger. Bless him, he was trying to tell Harry that he was jealous, but he just did not want to say it specifically. Harry decided to save him a bit of internal stress.

 **Harry Styles:** _Nah, he's attractive but just not my type completely._

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _He isn't? What's your type then???_

Harry's index finger hovered over the 'y' key on his laptop keyboard, knowing he shouldn't crack too quickly and give in to Louis again, but wanting nothing more than to send back _'you.'_

So he did, regrettably. But then he immediately deflected it with a follow-up message.

 **Harry Styles:** _You_

 **Harry Styles:** _Hahaha I'm joking!! ;)_

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _You're not joking_

Harry held his breath. This had turned very seriously very quickly, but perhaps for the best of reasons.

 **Harry Styles:** _Maybe I'm not, no._

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _I'm flattered. Well I would be lying if I said I haven't thought about kissing you_

Harry gasped in a loud breath, having certainly not expected to read that, his heart almost exploding, but a second message from Louis abruptly came through to follow.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _sorry_

 **Harry Styles:** _Don't apologise. I think about doing so much with you, kissing being the most mild._

Harry confidently hit send, biting so hard on his lower lip that it whitened between his teeth. His stomach was swarming with that feeling again, the bubbling feeling that meant he was aroused again by talking like this to Louis. It was so true though, he had graphically thought about so much involving Louis, from making out to full-blown sex. The things they had already done still haunted him every night, killing him. He needed it again, Louis' deep, alluring voice and tender touch on his skin.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Well we will have to see how you get on with your lovely Jamie now won't we !_

Harry smirked to himself. Louis was most likely smirking too, as they both knew very well that Harry would definitely not end up with _Jamie._

 **Harry Styles:** _I guess so. Just keep on thinking about me._

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Maybe I will xx_

Two kisses. Bingo. Harry definitely had this in the bag.

 _God,_ he needed to kiss Louis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be more Harry/Louis to come (wink wink), I promise!!!


	18. Eighteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May be full of typos - apologies! x

Jamie added Harry on Facebook a day later, a friend request which Harry accepted when he had arrived home from school on Monday afternoon. He examined Jamie's Facebook page as he had Louis', realising that he wasn't half as endearing, and his profile pictures didn't give Harry butterflies like Louis' did. Louis was just something else.

It had stuck with Harry all day, the thought that Louis had envisioned kissing him. And he had pondered all throughout his Biology class about it, about how kissing someone was only really deemed pleasurable if you had feelings for them. Did Louis like Harry enough to want to kiss him? Apparently. _Fuck,_ maybe he wasn't just using Harry for his own sexual gain.

Harry wanted to see him again, even though it had only been a day, and he hated how he always had to count on going to Liam's house if he wanted to see him. There was really no other way, other than Louis occasionally visiting the bakery while they were all at work.

Early Tuesday morning, at the tender hour of six o'clock, Harry shot a text to Liam that he had spontaneously thought up upon awakening that morning.

 **Harry:** _Wanna skip school today and just watch a load of films?_

He was desperate for it, knowing a nice day off would be nice in general anyway. He hadn't really thought through the fact that he had no idea where Louis would be all day; maybe he would be at work. Did he work? Harry barely knew anything about his life. Liam didn't get back to his message until quarter to seven, which was probably the time he had set his morning alarm for.

 **Liam:** _you, skipping school? are u feeling okay?_

Yes, maybe it was a little bit out of the ordinary for Harry to request skiving from school, but he really couldn't be bothered with classes today and would rather relax with his mates (and maybe see Louis.) His parents didn't have to know either, he could pretend to leave the house for school and instead walk straight to Liam's.

 **Harry:** _Ha ha. I'm feeling fine, just can't be bothered with school today. Is your mum in today??_

 **Liam:** _she leaves for work at 8 but louis is home today and will probably tell her im skiving because he is a prick ://_

Okay, Louis was home today, that was one question answered for Harry. _Perfect._ Now all he had to do was get Liam to agree to it (because he already knew Niall would be down for having a day off with them.)

 **Harry:** _He wouldn't if we came round and he wanted to be the 'cool brother', would he?? ;)_

A good way around the problem. It was better than saying _'just tell him I'm coming, he'll be fine with it then.'_

 **Liam:** _Thats true. U asked niall or jamie?_

It seemed Jamie was now one of their group. That wasn't great, especially seeing as he clearly had crushes on both Harry and Louis, but Harry couldn't exactly refuse to hang out with him.

 **Harry:** _We don't even have to ask Niall, you know he will want to stay off school. But I haven't asked Jamie, no._

 **Liam:** _ok ok. how about you all get here for like half 8 if u can all make it?? i will just hope louis will be ok with this i guess (this is very spontaneous of us)_

Harry smiled to himself in victory, sitting up in bed to send the final message.

 **Harry:** _Cool, I've got to shower. Text the other two, I'll see you at half 8._

He put his phone down and wandered off to the bathroom to take his shower. Throughout it, his stupid brain ran through impossible scenarios with Louis, things he would love to happen, like an unprecedented kiss or something that led to something more, then more, and more. All he wanted was for Louis to make a move, because he was sure as hell he wouldn't be doing that _himself._ No matter what he said online to Louis, how confident he was being, it always changed when Harry was face-to-face with Louis and turned flustered and shy. He couldn't help it, it came naturally.

He had breakfast as he usually would on a school morning, even had his packed school bag over his shoulder to make it as realistic as possible, but his mum was too busy having a little spat with Robin about why he was so bad at taking out the rubbish. After bidding them a farewell for the day, he headed out and started the walk to Liam's. Why was he doing this again? He had been to Liam's more times than he could recall, a massive amount since he had found out in the first place that Liam had a brother. What a beautiful discovery that was, better than any diamond-digging discovery.

Niall was already there when he got there, answering the door to Harry as if he were arriving at a house party.

"Hazzaaa!" Niall excitedly greeted, arms raised. "Come in!"

Harry laughed at his friend's exuberance and stepped inside, shrugging off his jacket and placing his bag down by his discarded shoes. Liam and Jamie were lounging in the living room, with Liam still wearing his pyjama bottoms and a plain cotton t-shirt, bare feet kicked up onto a footstool in front of him, and Jamie sat by him with a welcoming smile.

"Harry's joined the lazy day party." Jamie greeted, with an amused chuckle. "Sit down, guys. What are we watching?"

Harry perched himself down at the edge of the sofa, crossing his legs in front of him, while Niall completely threw himself down on Liam's other side, legs comfortably out in front of him. He had such a casual way of living, it seemed even more casual than Jamie sometimes.

"Anything," Harry shrugged, "Why don't we binge a show?"

"Yeah! Put a classic on, Li, a bit of _Supernatural_ maybe?" Niall offered, pointing at the screen as Liam scanned through the available box sets with the remote. In the meantime, Jamie stood up and strolled over to where Harry was, sitting down beside him on the sofa.  
_Had he really just moved specifically to sit with Harry? Damn, he must have really been keen._

"Sure." Liam agreed, putting Supernatural on before placing the remote on the sofa beside him and properly settling down. "Just a heads up, my mum gets home by about 4, so just pretend we've been at school then headed here."

"Shhh, it's starting!" Niall hissed, a finger to his lips. Harry chuckled to himself, trying to concentrate on the screen but far too distracted by the exciting thought that Louis was upstairs. He tried to concentrate on the show, realising that he didn't find Dean's character as hot as usual when Louis was on his mind. He was literally changing Harry's whole perspective on life, it was ridiculous. Jamie shuffled in closer to Harry, resting his head on Harry's shoulder, and Harry wanted to roll his eyes and shrug him away. It seemed Jamie thought they were dating or something, when in actual fact Harry kind of found this rather awkard.

There was no sign of Louis for quite some time, and Harry had finally managed to ignore Jamie and had enticed himself in the TV show on the screen, almost having completely forgetten that he had only actually planned on going to Liam's purely to see Louis. They were a third of the way through episode three, when the living room door opened (startling Harry, quite honestly) and Louis stood in the doorway. He had clearly not long been awake, his hair sticking up in a mess (that still somehow looked hot), dressed down in slim-fit sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt. He immediately took in the sight of Harry with Jamie's head on his shoulder, lounging very comfortably together on the sofa, and deterred the topic instantly.

" _Okay,_ this is embarrassing, I didn't know you guys were all here and I look absolutely awful." He spoke in a hot morning voice, awkwardly laughing, straining not to look at Harry, it was obvious. Did he seriously think he looked awful? Because Harry reckoned that was impossible for him. He so badly wanted to argue against what Louis had said, but he kept his mouth shut and instead laughed along with Niall.

"You definitely don't." Jamie purred, sending a spike of jealousy through Harry. For fuck's sake, he needed to leave him alone.

"Appreciate it." Louis flatly remarked, taking a seat at the end of the sofa, far from everybody else. Harry's eyes were on him, taking in the gorgeous sight of him, while Louis started watching along to the TV show with his chin resting on his palm. He was adorable, it should have been his head resting on Harry's shoulder, not Jamie's.

Jamie moved his mouth to Harry's ear not too long later to whisper to him. "Your shoulder's really comfy."

Louis saw the whisper in the corner of his eye, a clear pissed off look crossing his face, wanting to know what they were whispering about. The satisfaction was in Harry's stomach again, having made Louis jealous. Harry waited for Jamie to face the television again before whispering back to him.

"Thank you."

Jamie breathed out a laugh through his nose. Louis' jaw was tightly locked in supressed annoyance, eyes so sternly focused on the television that he could probably shoot lasers into it if he tried. It was Jamie's turn to whisper again, this time nudging his nose into Harry slightly before whispering.

"What do you think the others would do if we just started making out?"

Harry felt his heart stammer. Oh God, well he knew what Louis would do: he would probably fucking chokeslam Jamie to the ground. Harry wanted him to be jealous though, wanted him to know that Harry wasn't just going to wait around for him to admit he wasn't straight. He positioned himself to whisper his response again.

"I dunno, what do you think?" He whispered back, biting back a grin when he saw Louis glance a little bit again. He was clearly paying more attention to Harry and Jamie than he was to the television, but didn't want to make that obvious. Jamie leant in to whisper once again.

"Why don't we kiss once and see?"

Okay. Well. Harry had kissed people before, admittedly, but it seemed a little forward to kiss Jamie in front of Lou-- It was going to make Louis seethingly jealous. He would surely want Harry more after it. Harry whispered to Jamie for the final time.

"Just one kiss."

Jamie turned his head so he was facing Harry, looking him deeply in the eyes, and Louis was just _blatantly_ watching now as Jamie pecked Harry briefly on the lips. It was the smallest of kisses, but Niall immediately shrieked out the loudest gasp, slapping a hand over his mouth, while Liam gaped at them and, well, Louis, Louis just glared. A fucking death stare, like nothing Harry had ever seen in his life, was directed their way. Wow, if extreme jealousy could be portrayed in a look, it was that one.

"Guys!" Liam erupted in excitement. "You just kissed!"

"Obviously." Jamie smugly remarked, a smirk prominent. "And it was... good."

Louis crossed his arms over his chest, almost stubbornly, and looked back at the television screen again with slightly raised eyebrows. _Well, Louis Tomlinson, how does that feel?_

"I'm gonna," Harry pointed a thumb out of the room, "I'm gonna just go and grab a drink from the kitchen."

"Go ahead." Liam allowed, smiling brightly at him. Harry jumped up to his feet, making powerful eye contact with Louis just before he left, and he sped across the hallway into the kitchen. He grabbed a glass and faced the sink, pouring a stream of water into the glass before turning off the tap and taking a long, steady sip. He couldn't believe what was happening, how forward and sudden this was, despite it only being the smallest of kisses - literally a peck. It made Louis jealous enough, clearly.

He heard the kitchen door open, but he kept himself faced towards the sink, taking another sip of his drink. Was it Jamie? Liam? Niall? _Louis_? He initially assumed Jamie, but it was answered for him when the person spoke. It was Louis, and Harry gulped when he realised this.

"What the fuck was that?"

Harry didn't even dare to turn around, still facing the sink, hand gripping the glass tighter. Oh God, he hadn't actually expected to be grilled on it face-to-face by Louis, _damn._

"What?" Harry defensively remarked.

"That fucking kiss. Why did you just kiss him?" Louis seethed. Harry didn't even have to look at him without knowing how furious he looked, how his bottom lip was probably jutting out a little as it did.

"Because... I wanted to kiss Jamie?" Harry suggested, taking another sip of his drink to sooth his bone-dry throat.

"Bullshit, you looked at me before and after you did it. I wasn't born yesterday, Harry." Louis snapped. "Would you look at me?"

Harry span around to face his direction, his free hand flailing out in 'what?' action.

"I _didn't_ look at you." He lied. Of course he fucking did, he needed to document Louis' every little feature of jealousy.

"You did. What's the problem, huh? I thought Jamie wasn't your type? Or was that a lie now?"

"Why are you so bothered?" Harry grumbled, pouring the rest of his water down the sink before placing down the empty, water-speckled glass.

"I just... I just am. It pissed me off." Louis hissed, wiping his palms down either side of his face and letting out an irritated huff of air.

"You're jealous?"

Louis eyed Harry carefully, before defensively crossing his arms and leaning on one hip.

"I'm not jealous."

Harry rose an eyebrow in disbelief, wanting to literally slap some sense into Louis.

"You're not jealous, but you're stood in here having a go at me for kissing him?" He slowly worked out. "Sounds a biiit like jealousy to me."

"Okay, then I'm jealous and you're desperate. You're trying to find someone _like_ me because you're finding it too difficult to get me." Louis snarled, a smug look on his face.

"Wow!" Harry scoffed. "Just when I thought you couldn't get any cockier, you go and say that! I am not trying to find someone like you, I'll have you know, but it's funny watching how stupidly jealous you get when I'm around Jamie."

"So you were doing it to get to me, thank you for finally admitting that!" Louis rolled his eyes. "Why have you got to get to me that way? Why can't you just let time run its course and see where things lead next time?"

"Because this is going nowhere, Louis! You say you think about kissing me, you stare at me, you've _fingered_ me, for crying out loud, let's stop playing this lightly. But nothing is happening. It's easier said than done." Harry expressed, looking down at his feet as his shyness took over again, finally. There was a short silence, before Louis filled it.

"Can you keep your voice down? May I remind you that they're only sat across the hallway." Louis gritted.

"Fine, sorry."

"So, what. You don't think it's going anywhere?"

Harry kept his gaze trained down to the floor as he shook his head, clarifying what he had previously said. He heard Louis hum in amusement, before he spoke up again.

"How's this for you, then?"

Harry's breath hitched as Louis stepped forward and placed a hand softly beneath his chin, tilting his face upwards and attaching their lips. Harry's eyes were wide open in pure shock for a second, before he came to and realised what was actually happening, so he allowed his eyes to flutter shut as he eagerly tried his best to kiss Louis back. Louis' lips were rose-petal soft and his mouth tasted of a slight tinge of orange juice, and mint from toothpaste. He was kissing Harry slowly, one hand still holding beneath his chin, and Harry hummed out an appreciative moan into the kiss, almost as a thank you. Louis bit onto Harry's lower lip during the kiss, possibly the hottest thing Harry had ever experienced, before Louis deepened the kiss by sliding his tongue into Harry's mouth, to which Harry's stomach fluttered and he slid his tongue smoothly against Louis'. _What the fuck was happening?_

Louis broke the kiss about a minute and a half later, and Harry felt completely dizzied and speechless. His mouth was glossy from the small make-out, still able to taste Louis afterwards, and he gaped with wide eyes at Louis...

...who wore the biggest celebratory smirk he had ever sported.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it wasn't amazing. But they kissed! Damn louis


	19. Nineteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, Happy new year!!! ;)
> 
> Sorry if this one's not _too_ interesting, but it's pretty decent i guess.

Harry felt absolutely, utterly light-headed when the kiss was broken. His eyes were still slightly wide as he gawped at Louis, whose expression was unreadable. It was like it had shocked him as much as it did _Harry._ Neither of them uttered a word, and Harry, as the flustered and 'head-over-heels-in-love' idiot he was rushed out of the room and back towards the living room. Yes, he had done explicitly sexual things with Louis, but nothing came close to the feeling that kiss gave him inside. It felt like he couldn't breathe.

Jamie brightly smiled at him when he returned, completely oblivious to the steaming hot kiss that had just gone down in the kitchen, while Liam and Niall continued to watch the TV show on the screen. Harry shakily sat back down, trying to hide on his face how he was feeling.

"You alright, Harry? You look a bit shocked." Liam chuckled, pausing the show so as not to miss anything. Harry whipped his head in Liam's direction, slightly bewildered.

"What? I'm fine." He hastily defended, faking a large smile. "Why do I look shocked?"

"I dunno," Liam mused, raising an eyebrow, "Probably just a misjudgement."

It was ironic how Liam was the one picking up on Harry's actions, considering it had been _his_ brother who had just secretly made out with him in the kitchen. Funny that. Louis didn't return to the living room after that, and Harry liked the thought that maybe Louis had rushed to his room and stood against the door with a wide smile on his face, like a movie scene. Better that than him immediately regretting what he had done, cursing himself for having been so forward - Harry was completely fine with the forwardness.

He tried not to snuggle up too close to Jamie, entirely uninterested by now, and couldn't concentrate on the TV screen without thinking of how good Louis' lips felt and tasted against his. Well shit, that was probably going to keep him awake for the next week during time in which he should have been sleeping. He realised that all he wanted now was a relationship with Louis, one where they went out on cute dates and made cookies together, but it wasn't possible with Liam being his brother. Stupid Liam.

* * *

"What are you smiling about?" Gemma grilled him, the moment he strolled into the kitchen upon arriving home. "Haven't you been at school? What's so exciting about that?"

In fact, no. He had skipped school ( _and kissed Liam's hot older brother._ )

"Nothing," Harry sang, opening the fridge to look for a snack. "Not to worry, Gem."

"Tell me, then." She prodded him on the back. "Did someone ask you out, or something?"

Harry wished, to be honest, if that someone was Louis. For now they were evidently taking things very slowly.

"It's nothing specific, honest. I just had a good day, so I'm smiling."

"Good to hear." She returned the smile, before slipping out of the room. Not much conversation there.

Harry was surprised not to find a message waiting for him from Louis, even though Louis was currently active on Facebook and so could have sent one if he so wished, and Harry was really stuck on whether _he_ should send one instead. He idly drummed his fingers over his keyboard, deciding on what the best thing would be to say, but he ended up deciding to leave it altogether and not to send him anything.

He didn't see Louis at all for quite a while, Liam not inviting them round as usual, as though he sensed something going on -- which Harry realised was literally impossible, but was paranoid as ever. He was quite worried, considering he and Louis hadn't discussed what had happened and why it had, knowing it was something that couldn't just be left unspoken.

For the first time in quite a while, Harry invited Liam and Niall to his place after work that coming Saturday. He knew his parents and Gemma would be out shopping that evening, so it would be argument and intruder free. They hung out in his bedroom, which he had tidied the night before for the occasion, and had nothing in particular to do. All Harry wanted to do was ask Liam how Louis was doing, but clearly that would be massively suspicious and so he had to leave it.

The longer that was left without him communicating with Louis, the more concerned he became. Was Louis really distraught over the kiss, regretting it? Or maybe he was just shocked but in a positive way? Whatever the outcome, Harry wanted to sit down with him and talk it through, but it was annoyingly hard to find a time and place when Liam was around and oblivious to what was going on behind the scenes here.

"Can't believe we're not at _yours_ for once, Li," Harry decided to edge onto the new conversation a little. "Seems that's like our new, designated hangout place lately."

"Literally." Liam agreed, looking up from tapping away on his phone screen. "Since I admitted to you guys that I have a brother."

It was funny how Harry would have never knew Louis existed otherwise. Or maybe he would have seen him around Holmes Chapel and realised how hot he was, not knowing at all that he was related to Liam.

"He's not too bad now, Louis, is he?" Niall broke in, from where he was sat on the carpet by the door. "He's okay now that we've warmed up to him."

Harry had definitely warmed up to him, far too much.

"He's still a prick." Liam muttered. "Ah, dammit! My phone just ran out of battery!"

"Maybe that's your karma for calling your brother a prick." Harry noted, a smug grin. "And no, you can't borrow my charger."

"Why not?" Liam spat. "C'mon, I've got nothing else to do, you two are sat there on your phones too!"

"Go on my laptop, if you want." Harry allowed, using his foot dangling off his bed to slide his laptop lazily along the carpet and towards Liam. "Password is: harrye123."

"I've been granted access. Thank you, you absolute legend." Liam cheered, opening the lid of the device and switching it on. The reason Harry hadn't let Liam use his phone charger was because Liam had a tendency to break things that weren't his, obviously without meaning to, and Harry needed that charger. There was a silence again as they used their electronic devices, Harry idly scrolling through his Instagram.

They often fell silent when they hung out, a comfortable silence while they did their own thing, and it was a wonder they even wanted to spend time together when they could be doing this in their own presences. This was their idea of socialising, basically.

A long time passed, before Liam filled the silence.

"Umm... Harry? I got bored and started snooping around in your laptop photo albums. Can you explain why there's a photo of my brother in here?"

Harry felt like his heart literally entered his mouth, jumping into a sitting position.

"What?" He pretended to be oblivious.

"Wait, not one," Liam counted under his breath for a moment. "Five! You've got five photos of Louis on here, why have you?"

Niall was cackling away at the situation, as per usual, while Harry felt like a spotlight had been shone down onto him all of a sudden and had provoked him to break into a sweat. He wanted to sink into the ground.

"I have no idea!" And what a stupid response that was. How could he not know how five photos of Louis Tomlinson had appeared in his laptop's photo gallery? Man, he was really cursing himself for having saved those from Facebook now. What a stupid move. He obviously hadn't intended on letting Liam snoop through his files.

"You don't know?" Liam interrogated, clueless. "How do you not know?"

"Or maybe I was sending it to someone, I don't know!" He defended, raising his hands, completely terrified and unsure of what to say at this point.

"To _who_?" At least Liam was smiling in amusement, not completely pissed off about the situation. "To your wank bank?"

Oh God.

"You're gross! No!" Harry exclaimed a bit too over-dramatically.

"I'll just delete these, this is very strange." Liam mumbled, hitting the delete button on the keyboard five times to delete them. "Let's not speak of this again."

"Fine by me." Harry laughed. God, he wanted to disappear. How sheerly embarrassing. And Liam had joked about Harry saving them for his 'wank bank', like he had been masturbating over them -- _okay, Harry may have been a tiny bit guilty of that, but Liam didn't need to know._

"Imagine if you told Louis," Niall mocked, "That'd be funny."

No. Despite how close Harry had grown to Louis, he still didn't want him knowing he had creeping downloaded photos of him onto his computer. It was just a little bit too much, really. This had really backfired now, simply saving a handful of photos of Louis that he deemed very attractive.

"Shut up, Niall." He snapped, rolling his eyes. "You guys need to stop putting me in bad places with people."

"I won't tell him, Harry, don't worry. But can I just say that... it's a bit weird to me, if you... I dunno, if you think he's attractive. I don't like that, he's my brother and you're my best mate, I think you should avoid him."

Too late. Way too fucking late, Liam, wow. But he was catching on, that wasn't good. Harry had to save it, fast.

"No, I don't! He's not my type at all, I have no clue why I saved them, I can't remember. I promise, though, I'm not attracted to Louis." He lied. Probably the biggest lie he had ever told, quite literally.

"Okay, phew," Liam laughed to himself, "Just making sure. Cool."

Ha, fooled. That was easy. They always believed Harry, seeing as he was usually so honest all the time, so it was easy to fool them into believing his bullshit most of the time. Little did they know, Harry had never been so attracted to another human being as he was to Louis in his entire life. And the kiss they had shared only deepened the attraction, he wanted to marry the guy. Too far? Quite possibly.

He felt too apprehensive to talk about Louis for the next few days, but he missed him so much. It had been a whole week since he had seen him, an agonising seven days, and he was dying to. Neither of them had mentioned the kiss to each other, and it was a petrifying thought that was constantly with Harry: what if he's completely abandoned the thought now? What if the kiss scared him off?

It took him until the next _Friday_ to finally decide to message Louis, after an internal dispute that was court-worthy. He was trying to choose the best form of message, not knowing whether to cut straight to the point or beat around the bush a bit more. He settled with something simple yet obvious.

 **Harry Styles:** _We haven't spoken in a while._

Louis took about ten minutes to reply, and Harry was just lucky to have gotten a response in the first place. He was scared to read it but was reassured all the same to see what it said.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _We haven't, no. I'm sorry we didn't talk after I kissed you._

He had admitted to have kissed Harry, that was a positive start, but it hadn't expressed what he had _felt_ in the kiss. Was it as good for him as it was for Harry?

 **Harry Styles:** _Are we going to talk about it or...??_

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _I'd never kissed a boy before you. And....well it proved to me that I had been missing out._

WELL. Harry's face broke out into a wide grin as he reread the message again and again, feeling as though mini fireworks were erupting inside of him. Louis said he had been missing out! Holy shit!

 **Harry Styles:** _Really? Wow, I'm so glad you think that :) so... what now?_

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Nothing now..not sure what to say. It's not like this can be taken far, you know that don't you_

Harry huffed out a sigh.

 **Harry Styles:** _I want it to though._

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _I know you do baby. I don't know what I want. Well when I kissed you it just felt right if that makes sense, it's just idk how it could advance with me being Liam's brother and everything. He would probably be very weirded out if he found out we were involved with each other, it's just what he's like._

Yeah, Harry had already experienced a taste of that when Liam found the photos of Louis. The way he had said it to Harry: _'But can I just say that... it's a bit weird to me, if you... I dunno, if you think he's attractive. I don't like that, he's my brother and you're my best mate, I think you should avoid him.'_ As if Harry was going to avoid him. In fact, he felt even closer to him after the kiss.

 **Harry Styles:** _I know what you mean. Let's just see where life takes us .xx_

Inspirational.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Let's hope it's somewhere good ;) xxx_

Three kisses today. Louis really was warming up to all of this. Harry could sense a hidden relationship on the horizon, and it stirred his insides with excitement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Louis is warming up to the idea. What would you guys like to see in later chapters?
> 
> Wanna chat about Larry? Message me on my Wattpad account, same username as this one


	20. Twenty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies that I took so so long to update! Here's a rather special chapter.  
> Sorry if there are grammatical errors, will fix.

Liam and Niall had ended up staying the night, unintentionally, after they had all fallen asleep after browsing the internet and making small talk for several hours in Harry's room. And when Harry woke up, the others were still asleep, and he unlocked his phone to find a Facebook message from _Louis_ , which had been sent at 03:06, very early that morning.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _I can't sleep. I really want to see you again xx_

Harry soppily grinned to himself, rubbing one of his tired eyes whilst re-reading the message once again. Louis had been up at 3AM, unable to get to sleep, and it was because he was thinking about seeing Harry again. Harry felt butterflies in his stomach, tingling. This no longer felt like a mutual crush, this was something way more, Harry could feel it. He typed out a speedy message, all while smirking to himself knowing that Liam was lying sleeping not too far away, oblivious.

 **Harry Styles:** _I want to see you too. Should I see if I can get Liam to invite me and Niall over this morning? .xx_

As it was already 10:53AM that morning, Harry really hoped his friends would be waking up soon. Sundays weren't to be wasted, considering it was their only full day off of school and work. Seeing as just last night was when Liam had awkwardly uncovered the photos of Louis on Harry's laptop, Harry knew he would have to be extra wary if he were to interact with Louis. He would have to keep it hugely calm and casual, and try not to unintentionally get his love-struck, "heart eyes" look when looking at him. Louis replied already, and Harry was surprised he wasn't asleep, having been awake at 3.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Please do :) that would be nice, I'll be at home today xx_

Great news. Kind of, as it meant he would definitely have to work on his subtlety, if Liam even invited them round to his house.

Harry decided to scrunch up a sock from his messy floor and launch it at Niall, who released a loud, shocked snore as it hit him on the forehead. Harry stifled out a laugh as Niall's eyes peeled open, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he glanced up to find Harry grinning.

"I was sleeping, you prick." He grumbled out, stretching out where he was lying and digging his face into his arm. "Dream of Louis last night?"

Yes, quite possibly.

"Shut up," Harry rolled his eyes, "Seriously, don't make this a thing," He lowered the volume of his voice, "Liam would be pissed if you kept mentioning it."

"Okay, Mr Tomlinson." Niall smirked. "Actually, that sounds like you could be with Liam, ignore that. I'm kidding anyway, I know it was all a misunderstanding, with those photos."

Well... it wasn't, but it was good that he assumed so now.

"What do you think we should do today?" Harry asked, casually stretching his arms out above him.

"Well, we haven't been to _my_ house in a while. Maybe we could go there." Niall offered.

Oh no, that wasn't going to work. Harry would need a way to swerve their interests back onto Liam's place. But how?

"I kind of fancy going for a swim again," Harry blurted out, "What do you think?"

For crying out loud, the last time they had gone swimming in Liam's pool, it was almost torturous. Harry had felt overexposed in his yellow shorts, not to mention how flustered he was seeing Louis in his (although he had seen a lot more of him now, since that ordeal. Wow.) Harry wasn't looking forward to that cold water either.

"Yeah, that was fun! Liam's lucky to have a pool, maybe we could ask him when he's awake."

"I'm awake now, you idiots." Liam mumbled into a pillow, voice scratchy with sleep. "You wanna go swimming?"

"It'd be fun." Harry backed it up, with a smile as Liam peered up at him with tired eyes.

"You literally hated it last time, you wanted to get out the water after, like, half an hour." Liam reminded, sitting upright and fixing his messy hair.

Well, there was that. The truth was that Harry had ended up getting a hard-on due to seeing Louis' exposed body and had been forced to take evasive action by running off upstairs to take care of it. But they didn't have to know that.

"I wasn't feeling so great last time, I'm thinking today would be better." He saved it. Though he still didn't want to go for a dip in that freezing water. The things he would do for love. (Louis.)

So it was settled: they'd be going swimming. And Harry hated himself for providing such a stupid idea, it was just the only way he could get them back to Liam's without any suspicions. At least he knew Louis would be there all day, plus he didn't have to feel so insecure around Louis in those shorts anymore.

* * *

The moment the three of them walked through the living room door of Liam's house that afternoon, Harry locked eyes with Louis, who was sat on the sofa. Harry's stupid shy smile was back, dipping his head down, as he recalled in his head the kiss they had shared in the kitchen last time.

"You guys alright?" Louis addressed in greeting, fabricating that he was surprised they were round, even though he and Harry had been talking about it prior.

"Yeah, we're just going out in the pool." Liam informed him, keeping it short, so that all Harry could do was leave a lingering glance with Louis before they left the room again. They took turns changing in the bathroom into their swimming garments, before heading out into the garden once again. Luckily, it wasn't too cold, the sun casting out a heat that was enough to withstand that biting pool water.

The instant Harry so much as dipped his toe into the water, he wholly regretted this. It seemed even colder than last time, probably because it wasn't quite as warm out, and Liam and Niall were easily slipping into the water and shuddering yet manning up and getting it done. So Harry decided to follow suit, when really he wanted to rejoin Louis in the living room. And cuddle up to him. And kiss him again.

"Fuck this!" Harry shivered as he slowly slid into the icy water, hands desparetely rubbing his upper arms in a pointless attempt to warm himself up. "I see what you mean now, with how reluctant I was last time!"

"Exactly, you pussy. Let me help you get used to that water." Niall smirked, before splashing a stream of the freezing water over Harry's head.

"NO!" Harry yelled through a laugh, shaking his hair as the water soaked into it. "Niall, you prick!"

Niall was cackling away, continuing anyway to daub Harry with water, until Liam was lending a hand and Harry was sopping wet and freezing.

"Fuck you!" He shivered out, flicking his hair and sending water droplets toward his friends. His teeth were chattering, body shuddering. This suddenly wasn't so fun. "I'm too cold to enjoy this now."

"Look who's throwing a strop now." Liam taunted, once again thrashing a stream of water over Harry's head, so Harry groaned aloud in annoyance.

"Liam, I'm being serious, _stop._ " Harry snapped, angrily huffing and folding his arms, in both detest and attempted warmth.

"God, Harry, just get out the water if you don't want to be here. This was your idea in the first place, what was the point?" Niall growled, swimming away to do a length of the pool.

_Well, the point was to see Liam's brother._

"Fine." Harry grunted, planting his hands at the pool's edge and hauling himself out of the water, even colder as the slight change in temperature to his body inflicted goosebumps all over him. He didn't have a towel. Great. He didn't look at his friends once before storming inside, well aware he seemed to have an attitude problem, but unable to handle their annoying games. He stepped into the house, cautious that he would be dripping water throughout it that Liam's mum would have to later mop up, and had no clue where he was going, so was glad to hear his friends calling after him immediately.

"Harry, hold on! We'll get out too, we're sorry." Liam called out, the sound of sloshing water as they jumped from it. "Sorry, let's do something else. Watch TV? What do you wanna do?"

Harry was aware that the TV was in the living room. So was Louis. 

"Yeah, I mean, whatever." Harry shrugged, remembering to keep up the careless act, flicking his wet fringe to the side. Liam grabbed each of them a towel from the airing cupboard, so they could dry their hair and bodies which had been pointlessly soaked by the water for about thirty seconds, before wrapping the towels around themselves and heading into the living room. Harry covered up his entire body, cuddling into the towel and holding it by his chin to gather warmth. Louis was sat on the sofa scrolling through his phone, paying no attention to the television screen, only glancing up briefly at them as they were acknowledged. Harry had been hoping for a broader smile or some prolonged eye contact, but he didn't get it. Perhaps Louis was toning down on how obvious they thought it could be.

Liam scooped up the remote from where it was resting on Louis' leg, changing the channel immediately as the three of them sat down. Harry sat as far from Louis on the sofa as possible, so that both Niall and Liam were between them, knowing otherwise he'd end up literally jumping on him.

"Yeah, that's fine, just fucking take the remote." Louis joked, locking his phone and finally putting his attention in the real world again. He made brief eye contact with Harry again, this time his eyes holding a deeper glint, something only Harry could interpret. This man drove him absolutely wild, holy shit.

"Let's watch some more Supernatural, where were we up to?" Liam thought aloud, scrolling through the offered TV series on the screen. Harry had no idea where they had gotten to, as he had been too busy kissing Louis in the kitchen.

Liam started the episode they had reached, settling down once again, whereas Harry was trying to suppress a smirk as he thought about what he wanted to do to Louis. And it really (strangely?) turned him on that Liam and Niall were in the room while he had these thoughts. He glanced over at Louis in the corner of his eye, a small smile playing on his face that nobody was paying attention to, but Louis' eyes too were trained on the screen.

He looked so hot today, as usual sporting the carelessly sexy look with the ruffled hair and thrown together outfit, leaning his chin casually on his palm. He looked Harry's way suddenly, just a movement of the eyes, so Harry playfully looked at the television screen as though he didn't want to be caught staring. He just knew Louis was smirking to himself, moving his hand up slightly to cover his entire mouth.

Harry left it a couple of minutes before diverting his gaze Louis' way once again, leaving it there, so subtly that his friends had no idea. He kept looking even when Louis looked back at him, enjoying the powerful eye contact that always made his heart race faster. Harry decided he would move his towel off his body, as he was almost dry now, exposing his abdomen and setting the towel aside on the sofa while retaining the eye contact, before once again looking at the screen. He could feel Louis' eyes drinking in the sight of his half-naked body from across the room, which made him shudder with arousal.

He decided to mess with Louis a bit by slowly skimming his hand up and down his bare stomach, knowing Louis was watching him do it to himself. It was a subtle move but had Louis' eyes glued to it. Harry, continuing the slight movement on himself, looked Louis dead in the eye before letting his eyes fall to look at Louis' crotch instead, a smirk forming before he looked at the screen yet again.

He stopped the movement the instant he saw Niall glance at him, managing to play it off as being an itch to his abdomen, losing Niall's interest quickly (luckily). Harry returned his gaze to Louis, who immediately looked down at his crotch before back at Harry with a 'you want this?' raise of one eyebrow. Harry nibbled his lower lip and nodded just slightly, then shyly looking away. He very much wanted to run out the room with Louis at that moment.

A few minutes later was when Louis started getting an erection. Harry noticed him adjusting how he was sat every now and again, propping one leg up awkwardly. He shot Harry a smug look, and Harry felt like he died and went to heaven. Louis was hard. His dick needed relief.

"I'm going to grab a drink." Harry muttered, jumping to his feet and heading out the room. He didn't know whether Louis would somehow follow, or how obvious it would be if he did, but he found himself hurriedly heading into the kitchen. That kitchen seemed to be a good luck charm for him.

He quickly grabbed his phone, deciding to construct a plan. He shot a Facebook message to Louis, fast.

 **Harry Styles:** _Gonna tell Liam I'm feeling unwell. That I've gone home. I haven't._

Then he opened his messages with Liam, thumbing out a lie.

 **Harry Styles:** _Liam I'm sorry for being strange today. I guess it's because I feel unwell. I'm going to head home now, sorry for the trouble._

He was still awkwardly stood in just the yellow swimming trunks. This all felt so strange. He hit send, biting nervously on his lower lip as he prayed to God Louis would see the message. Luckily, Louis replied first, followed shortly by Liam.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Go to the front door and slam it shut but don't leave. Go up to my room, quietly._

 **Liam Tomlinson:** _awh haz seriously dont worry about it, get some rest..see you at school tomorrow if u r feeling better :)_

Well, both those responses were definitely very positive. With a broad smile on his face, he headed back into the hallway, lingering for a moment as though he were putting on his shoes, before opening and shutting the door. He then turned towards the staircase and lightly jogged up each step, heading over to Louis' room and slipping inside. The way this was all so secretive, it made Harry feel naughty. He liked it.

He sent Louis a message confirming he was in his room, before slipping his phone away and eyeing the photos pinned to the walls once again, of Louis with his friends. Even when Louis came into the room, Harry still looked over the photos, a playful smile on his face, knowing he wasn't giving Louis attention. He certainly wasn't expecting Louis to walk forwards, towards him, and press himself up completely to Harry's back. Harry gasped as he felt Louis' prominent bulge slowly rocking against his arse through the yellow fabric of his swim shorts.

Louis leant his mouth forward, breathing hotly against Harry's ear, while continuing the movement, before whispering, "You feel that? You feel what you've done to me?"

Harry tilted his head aside to allow Louis' face more room against his neck, eyes shut in bliss and lips parted as he slowly found himself grinding back against Louis. Louis planted his hands firmly on the hot, bare skin of Harry's hips, digging his face between Harry's shoulder and neck.

" _Yeah._ " Harry breathed out, both a response to Louis' whisper and a blissful outburst.

"Making me this hard while Liam's sat right there, you're such a naughty boy, aren't you?" He purred, sending shivers racing down Harry's spine as he desperately grinded back against Louis, aching to feel that hard dick against his bum.

"I want you."

"You really want this dick, huh?" Louis taunted, taking a step back from Harry, so he felt a sudden coolness. Harry whined quietly in protest, finally turning to face Louis, who had a massive smirk on his face.

"Louis," He whimpered, "I want you to fuck me."

"You do?" Louis smugly asked, slipping a hand down into his clothing, as Harry watched in awe over Louis stroking his dick inside his jeans. Harry could only nod before linking eyes with Louis again. "Get on the bed."

Harry definitely wasted no time with that, rushing to comply, almost tripping over his own limbs to get onto that bed as quickly as possible. Louis withdrew his hand from inside his jeans, climbing up onto the bed so that Harry's breath was hitching. Harry laid back, Louis climbing over him so that all of a sudden they were almost nose-to-nose.

Then Louis was kissing him, roughly, a handsy kiss where Louis' fingers glided up and down Harry's exposed hips, embracing the skin, and Harry clung onto Louis' shoulders. Louis kissed along Harry's chin and jaw until he reached his ear.

"You really want me to fuck you?"

"Yeah." Harry immediately said, catching Louis' lips against his once again. He tugged at Louis' t-shirt, successfully pulling it off with a split second breakage of the kiss, throwing the garment to the floor before continuing the making out. Harry's entire abdomen was pressed hotly against Louis', goosebumps erupting over the expanse. Harry was hard now, so hard.

"Let's get out of the rest of these clothes, shall we?" Louis purred after breaking the kiss, sitting up to unbuckle his belt. Harry desparetely tugged off his shorts, leaving him completely naked, with his cock lying hard against his stomach. Louis eyed his body with a smirk as he rid of the rest of his own clothing, and Harry wanted to drool - as always. "Let me see that hole again, baby."

Louis shifted backwards on the bed, allowing Harry to lift both legs up to expose himself to Louis again. Louis hummed out a moan, briefly sucking on his own index finger before rubbing slowly against Harry's entrance, getting him used to that feeling again. Harry had really missed it. Louis slowly inched the finger inside, all while he loosely jerked himself off, and Harry winced ever-so-slightly but released it as a moan once he knew he could take this again.

"Remember that feeling, hmm?" Louis' voice was low and scratchy, just how Harry liked it. He nibbled on his lower lip and nodded in response, spreading his legs further to allow Louis more room, his own dick in hand. With his index finger still working in and out of Harry, Louis reached to his bedside table drawer, receiving the lube and pouring some onto his middle finger before pushing it in alongside. Harry groaned a little louder, bringing his hand up to bite on. Louis began working them into Harry, flicking his wrist slightly with the motion, and Harry was slowly grinding his hips down to embrace the friction inside him.

Louis retracted the fingers suddenly, Harry feeling suddenly very empty, wiggling his bum slightly as a way of requesting something inside him again. Louis breathily laughed.

"Do you think you can take my cock, Harry?" He lowly asked, and Harry loudly inhaled as he felt Louis slapping his dick down against his entrance. Harry looked Louis in the eye as he slid his dick slowly against his hole.

"Yeah." He smirked, and Louis mirrored it before kneeling up once again. Harry dropped his legs again, as Louis returned to the same drawer as before, this time to retrieve a condom, and this suddenly felt so real. Harry's heartrate plummeted. Louis tore open the condom, rolling it onto his dick, glancing up at Harry again almost in confirmation. Harry tilted his head aside with a stupid smile, eyes flicking from Louis' face to his cock. Louis poured a very generous amount into his hand before working it quickly over his dick, coating it, commanding Harry to spread his legs again before wiping the excess lube over his hole.

"I want you to hold your legs again for me, make yourself comfortable, Harry." Louis softly instructed. Harry lifted his legs up once again, holding them beneath his knees, and Louis nodded to himself before kneeling in front of Harry and pressing the head of his dick against Harry's entrance. Harry gasped.

"Are you sure about this?" Louis once again assured, eyebrows crumpled together in worry.

"Completely." Harry smiled. "Come on, Louis."

Louis slowly pushed himself into Harry. They both drew in steady breaths, Harry staring almost wide-eyed at Louis.

"Breathe." Louis muttered, before breathing in through gritted teeth. "Are you okay?"

Harry clenched his eyes shut, quickly nodding, eyebrows clearly furrowed and lines of discomfort in his forehead.

"Y-Yes." He managed to stutter out, trying to steady his breathing and ignore the searing pain. "So fucking big."

"You're so tight," Louis breathed out a breathless laugh, "Shit."

Harry choked out a sharp groan of discomfort, and Louis stroked soothingly over his waist.

"Okay, darling, it's okay. You're doing so well, taking it so well." He mumbled in Harry's ear, his breath hot and encouraging. Louis was completely inside him, practically ripping into him, and Harry was almost sobbing.

"It hurts." He whined. "J-Just start moving."

Louis decided to go for a slow yet steady pace, drawing back his hips before re-entering Harry. Harry whimpered softly, head falling onto the pillow behind him.

"Yeah, fuck me, Louis." He breathed out in bliss, trying to push past the sharp tinge of pain.

"Fuck yeah." Louis smirked, beginning to move slightly faster into him, which had them both gasping once again.

"Oh my God, yes." Harry breathed, followed by a long, high moan. "Yes, Louis."

"That's more like it, huh?" Louis purred out, looking down at where his dick slid in and out of Harry, biting his lip at the sight. "So fucking hot, baby."

Harry pulled Louis in for a kiss by the back of his head, their lips moving together slowly and passionately as Louis continued to thrust into him at that steady pace. 

Louis broke the kiss once again, resting his forehead against Harry's as he sped up again, moving in and out faster, and Harry's stomach was bubbling with arousal and pleasure at the incredible feeling. He was gasping out breathless moans, staring deep into Louis' eyes.

It became a problem when the headboard of Louis' bed started thudding against the wall, something Liam had complained about in the past, and Louis breathily cursed and ceased the thrusting, to Harry's dismay.

"We're moving to the desk." He commanded, pulling slowly out of Harry before gripping onto his arm, pulling them both to their feet. In one swift motion, Louis cleared the desk with his outstretched arm, so items scattered carelessly to the floor, before grabbing Harry by the hips and bending him over the desk. Harry moaned in content from being handled that way, the desk cold against his stomach, and moaned even louder when Louis pressed into him again.

"Shhh." Louis hissed, planting a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Can't let them hear us."

All of a sudden, Louis began pounding into Harry at a staggering speed, Harry trying to desparetely cover his mouth with one hand and grip for dear life onto edge of the desk with the other, while Louis grunted in pleasure with the effort, gripping hard onto Harry's shoulder and waist.

Harry muffled out a moan against his hand with each sharp thrust, the pleasure and roughness too much for him to be quiet, and the sound of Louis' aroused sighs behind him overwhelming him. He began fisting at his dick along with the thrusts, arm aching.

"You look so good like that," Louis breathed out, voice gravelly, "Bent over like that, taking this fucking dick while you get yourself off."

"I fucking love it." Harry whined out, grinding his arse back against Louis, with the sharp sound of skin-on-skin filling the air, as he continued to jerk himself off along to it.

"Kiss me." Louis demanded, and Harry quickly tilted his head aside, not caring about the discomfort in his neck from the angle, trying his best to kiss Louis while humming a long moan against his lips, continuing to take the brutal fucking.

"I'm gonna cum." Harry warned, resting his right cheek on the desk. " _Louis._ "

"You can cum, Harry. Cum for me." Louis coaxed, pounding into him still. It only took a few more tugs of his dick and for Louis to angle his dick _just_ right to have Harry sobbing out his orgasm, cum streaking out as he loudly whined out a moan. Louis reached forward to clasp his hand over Harry's mouth, slowing the thrusts down so as not to over-stimulate Harry.

Harry felt tears gliding down his face, stomach still clenched and toes curled against the carpet. Louis was close behind with his orgasm, pulling out, ripping off the condom and cumming all over Harry's back with a throaty groan, breathing out through pouted lips, body shuddering through it.

"Look at me, Harry." Louis panted, gently stroking his hair. Harry looked back at him, lips still parted and eyes hazy. "Are you crying?"

"It's embarrassing." Harry breathily laughed, turning his face away again.

"No, no, it's not!" Louis reassured. "It's adorable!"

Harry shyly laughed, wiping away a stray tear. "First time having sex."

"And you did so well." Louis praised, leaning down to kiss against his shoulder.

Yeeeah, Louis definitely couldn't pretend to be straight anymore. And this really gave Harry hope for the future: maybe they could be together now.


	21. Twenty-One

"I think you'd better head home now." Louis stated, after they had dressed (Harry having to riskily sneak into Liam's room to retrieve the clothes he had stupidly left) and wiped up the mess they'd made. Harry sighed, frowning, wanting nothing more than to just stay there with Louis all day. It was another negative reminder that Louis was Liam's brother - it was too risky for him to stay there for too long. They had already risked enough by literally having sex while Liam and Niall were just downstairs.

"Well, can we go out somewhere fun?" Harry begged. "I don't want to come across as too needy, but-"

"Harry, love, we can organise going out somewhere another day. It's just... it's risky spending too much time together in public, where anybody could see us. This is so shit, I know." He sadly smiled, brushing a stray curl of hair from Harry's face. "Take my number, yeah?"

"Yeah." Harry gave in, patting his pockets to retrieve his phone. Louis read his number out and Harry padded it into his phone. "Thanks, Louis. I'm going to miss you, you know."

Louis laughed through his nose, a forced breath of air, before ruffling Harry's hair.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Still." Harry protested, wrapping his arms tightly around Louis. "I'm going to miss you."

"We'll meet up some day, just you and me, okay? That's a promise. Now you better go, you've been up here way too long." He urged Harry towards the door by patting his bum, causing Harry to smirk to himself. When they reached Louis' bedroom door, Harry span around to face him once more.

"One last kiss?"

Louis smiled before closing the gap between them with a soft kiss, before veering him towards the door again by the shoulders.

"Go on, then. I'll text you." He whispered, once he had opened the door to his bedroom.

"You better." Harry quietly responded, smugly grinned, before stepping out into the hallway and hearing the door click shut behind him. He padded down the stairs in his socks, trying to fight through the pain that was radiating from his bum from what had just occurred, stopping once he spotted his shoes still sat there. Which he had left. In the hallway. For all that time. He internally cursed himself, but listened to hear that Liam and Niall were still listening to the loud television in the living room. They probably hadn't even left that room since Harry had - he'd be fine.

He slipped his shoes on before managing to silently open the front door, stepping outside and shutting it just as soundlessly.

And then he physically sprinted away from the house, his paranoia getting the best of him. His bum was aching all the way home, but it was an incredible reminder as to what had gone down in Louis' room, like his own little souvenir. 

He still couldn't quite believe it, how far he had gone with Louis. Completely behind Liam's back. He was starting to see the spite in it now, the urge to want to tell Liam everything. They couldn't hide this forever, no way.

* * *

Harry was late for school the next morning, having received minimal sleep due to the inevitable arguing from his parents' bedroom. His bum still ached with each step, his eyes were difficult to keep open, and he had pulled on the same jeans and t-shirt from the previous day, and he sauntered into class twenty minutes late with a scolding look from his English teacher.

He slid into the seat by Niall and Liam at the back, fixing his hair quickly and settling down. He couldn't help but feel a general aura of tension, knowing it was completely set by his paranoia. They knew nothing about what had happened.

"How are you, Harry?" Liam asked, voice pretty monotone, as it was a common question which he didn't really need a truthful answer to.

_Well, Harry was pretty sore._

"I'm alright. You guys okay?"

"Yeeeah," Niall idly replied, stretching his arms out above him and groaning in relaxation, "As okay as I can be during school."

"Well, actually," Liam huffed out a sigh, "I think... I might be going a little crazy."

Harry's ears perked up more in interest at that. Everything Liam said made him wildly paranoid, without intention.

"Going crazy? Why's that?" He chuckled, trying to make light of the situation, despite Liam's baffled expression.

"Because I could have _sworn_ I saw your shoes in the hallway after you left," He mused, staring straight ahead, "But then a little while later they were just miraculously gone."

 _Oh shit. Shit, shit, SHIT._ Did he know something, or was he genuinely confused? Harry hated this, he could feel his cheeks flushing hot.

"Oh... well, I did go home, so maybe you _were_ imagining things." He shrugged, praying his voice wasn't wavering too much when he spoke, like it so often did when he lied. He was the worst liar ever. He made eye contact with Niall, who reciprocated the shrug before turning his attention back to the lesson.

"Maybe." Liam muttered under his breath. "I think I need to start getting more sleep, it'll affect my school work otherwise."

Harry was convinced that something strange was going on here, Liam never acted this distant and detached from what he was really saying. Did he know what exactly had gone down? Was he assuming Harry maybe lied about why he really wanted to leave? It was unknown for now, but Harry hated being so in the dark about it, knowing Liam could be judging his every word and move.

He kept a close eye on the way Liam was acting, and he seemed to be coming across as moody and indifferent in Harry's eyes. He was like a stroppy wife giving her husband the silent treatment, and Harry was pretty convinced he knew something about yesterday's ordeal, but refused to mention it. He wanted to torment Harry, squeeze it out of him himself if he had to.

Harry just missed Louis. Already. He wanted to cuddle with him, feel his warmth, be completely away from Liam and Niall and their masked judgements.

When class was over, Liam mentioned something about heading to the bathrooms, telling his friends he would catch up with them on their way to their next lesson. So Harry was left with Niall, giving him a less tense opportunity to ask him questions.

"What's up with Liam?" Harry whispered, even know Liam was probably a good twenty metres away down the hallway by now. 

Niall frowned. "Well, he was talking to me about how much he misses Louis being with Eleanor, how they were so good together and now they're completely over."

Bullshit. Each time Eleanor had been round there (for Harry to witness), Liam didn't give a shit. He would say his mandatory hellos, then act as though she wasn't there - Harry had seen it. So what the fuck was this all about? Had Liam told Niall to say that, or was it _Harry_ who was going fucking crazy?

"Oh. Harsh." He mumbled, scratching the back of his neck as a distraction. "They were a lovely couple, shame they broke it up."

"Really is." Niall nodded, making intense eye contact with Harry for a couple of moments. "Maybe they should start seeing each other again."

"Okay, Niall, what the fuck is going on?" Harry demanded all of a sudden, stopping in place so that Niall had no choice but to do the same. "Why are you two acting so weird?"

"We're... we're not." Niall hesitated, looking completely bewildered. "Nothing is going on, everything is all good. What makes you worry?"

"God, I think I must be the one going mad." He breathed, rubbing his eyes furiously with the heels of his palms. "I don't know why I'm worrying, I just don't want any tensions between any of us."

They started a light stroll again, Harry realising now just how hard his heart was thudding in his chest.

"Right, understood." Niall stated, solemnly. "But with the whole Liam thing, maybe he's got some stuff going on at home. He did mention this morning that he doesn't want us going round there at the moment."

Shit. Well, what more reasons would he need to set that boundary, than Harry fucking his older brother? It was still Harry's internal battle: _Does he know? Does he not?_ He may as well have been picking Daisy petals along with it.

"That's okay, as long as he has some time to recover from... whatever he's dealing with. We can hang out somewhere else, right?"

He was only happy to agree with the 'no going to Liam's house' rule because of Louis' promise for he and Harry to meet up elsewhere, alone, for a nice trip out. He still took his word for it, hoped he wouldn't back out. He was pretty sure, in fact _very sure_ , that he was in love with Louis Tomlinson. There was no turning back from that, he couldn't pretend he wasn't in love with him, Liam would just have to face it some day. If he ever found out... if he didn't already know.

But only time could tell.

* * *

**Harry:** _Hi Lou it's Harry btw, save my nunber. I've been paranoid all day, Liam has been acting really strange .xx_

 **Louis:** _Number saved under 'curly' ;) Why is he being weird ?? You dont think he knows anything do u ...??_

 **Harry:** _Appreciate the pet name, cheers princess. But really, he mentioned that I had left my shoes in the hallway, called himself crazy after thinking they had disappeared. I'm not sure if he really is going crazy or if he knows something..... I'm worried. Niall mentioned today that Liam misses you being with Eleanor too .xx_

 **Louis:** _Well Im definitely not planning on getting back with her anytime soon..shit you left your shoes in the hallway!? Surely he knows something weird is going on then....I guess we need to convince him he's going crazy huh :/_

 **Harry:** _Not going to work haha. But idk what to do now if he knows, if he does then he is pretty pissed about it. Not sure how I can find out whether he knows, Niall wouldn't tell me but he mentioned that Eleanor thing when I asked about Liam so I'm thinking they both know. And I'm worried._

 **Louis:** _They literally cannot know, I could get in trouble really for taking advantage of his friend, especially if my mum finds out. I know she will take it badly with you not even being 18 yet_

Well, he was over 16, which was the age of consent, so how bad could it have been? Maybe their mum was a lot stricter with things like that, and would see it as Louis using someone young and _"easy"?_

 **Harry:** _Then we need to convince them otherwise Louis, because they're going to find out fast._

 **Louis:** _Then maybe I should get back with Eleanor._

Harry frowned, feeling like his stomach had pooled with jealousy and dread. The thought of Louis being with someone else again made him feel physically sick with spite.

 **Harry:** _What? :(_

 **Louis:** _Harry. Then maybe I should " get back with Eleanor. "_

Oh.

OH.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bearding.
> 
> Do you think Liam or Niall really know, or is Harry severely paranoid?


	22. Twenty-Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy almost birthday to Harry frickin' angel Styles! Can't believe our baby is going to be 24 omg.

**Louis Tomlinson** changed his relationship status from _Single_ to _In a Relationship_

 **Louis Tomlinson** is in a relationship with **Eleanor Calder**

 

Harry could already feel the jealousy bubbling up inside him, and it was only the first day of this. He had been warned by Louis numerous times, _'I'm going to make it Facebook official, okay?'_ , yet it still didn't prevent the heartbreak he experienced. And if seeing the status update wasn't bad enough, he had to tolerate the 139 likes it had, and the congratulatory comments beneath it:

_OMG you guys I knew you'd get back together!! <3_

_Congrats love birds._

_u'll be getting married next, i call it ;)_

_Made for each other, no other way rlly!_

Harry slammed his laptop lid shut, throwing the device onto his folded duvet cover at the end of his bed and digging his face into a pillow. It was so ridiculous of him to act so immature, he knew it was, but he couldn't help it. He liked Louis a hell of a lot, so even a fake relationship between him and another person was enough to make him ache. He wanted Louis all to himself, he didn't belong to anybody else.

The minute Harry walked into class that same day, once he managed to drag himself to school, he was greeted by his friends with wide smiles. Almost sarcastically wide, unless his paranoia was kicking in again.

"Morning Haz, you doing alright?" Liam chirped, pulling out Harry's chair _for_ him. Weird.

"Yeah... why are you both acting so strangely?" Harry slowly interrogated, eyebrows furrowed in concern. He watched them exchange looks for several moments, as though they were non-verbally convincing each other to do the talking, and Niall was the one to sigh and talk.

"Well..." He hesitated, making a thinking face, and Harry had never been so terrified as to what was about to be said. "We've just caught onto you."

Oh shit. Holy shit, no. Harry knew his eyes widened, he couldn't help that, and it felt like his entire body had stiffened.

"Caught... onto me?"

"Yeah," Liam chipped in, his look harsh. "How you've been acting."

"How have I been acting?" Harry pushed, just wanting them to go ahead and say it. He couldn't take the suspense, and he could feel a layer of sweat beading on his forehead. He was quite literally sweating from nerves.

"You haven't been yourself lately, Haz... we just want to know whether everything's alright at home? You know, with your _parents_ and stuff." Liam carefully worded.

Oh thank God! Harry felt awful that he had given this impression, especially considering he had experienced trouble with them before that his friends had latched onto, but could this be his cover-up?

He loudly sighed, before rubbing his eyes. "Well... not really, things have been pretty bad. But I'm glad you guys have noticed, it's really been bugging me. That's why you're acting so nice then?"

"Yeah, we're worried about you, bro. You haven't been your happy self." Niall chipped in, firmly patting him on the shoulder. "We're always here, if you need to talk."

"Thanks, guys, I appreciate that."

Well, that was sorted. But there was still the whole scenario involving the shoes, the way Liam thought he was going mad having seen them "disappear". Maybe he knew something, in the back of his head, but thought that he himself had paranoia. It was a very tangled up situation, full of lies and paranoia.

* * *

Harry managed to keep the "sad" facade on throughout the day, which wasn't too difficult once he recalled the Eleanor situation. He wondered whether Louis had kissed her yet, despite it all being for show, just to keep Eleanor thinking it was for real. Surely he'd have to sleep with her again, to show her his love was still there. Harry was hurting. He sent Louis a message the moment he got home, caring about nothing more, not even enough to remove his shoes and get comfortable.

 **Harry Styles:** _I've been thinking about you all day. Thought Liam and Niall knew something but it is all ok for now. Wanna see you soon please??? Not to be needy .xx_

Louis replied almost instantly, to Harry's delight.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _We will meet soon, I promise...it's been weird with El, she thinks i've really fallen for her again....i feel kinda bad but dont worry because I dont love her Harry. See you soon yeah? I'll take you out ;) xx_

The wink brightened up the rather depressing message. It was cheeky and it worked on charming Harry, the thought of Louis taking him out... on a _date_? It made Harry shiver. Louis was like the cheeky, cocky boy who could easily steal anybody's heart. His ideal was to go out somewhere nice with Louis, and then perhaps have another heated re-run of what had happened not too long ago in Louis' bedroom, but maybe that was too much to ask. For now, Louis would be too distracted with making sure everyone was convinced he and Eleanor were together again, including _her_.

 **Harry Styles:** _I want a top restaurant Tomlinson, at least four stars ;) Just me and you .xx_

He smirked as he hit send, biting playfully on his finger as he saw Louis typing. This definitely felt like nothing less than a relationship now, but Harry was conflicted about how Louis felt. Did he too feel like they were in a relationship? Harry sure as hell fucking hoped so.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _I think I want to get you drunk xx_

That definitely sounded like a plan to Harry. Getting drunk with Louis was bound to lead to something great again, he wasn't going to deny that.

 **Harry Styles:** _That's okay with me Louis .xx_

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Look at you being all naughty, thinking about getting drunk with a 20 year old. I love it, the thought of you drunk and having no filter whatsoever xx_

Louis was thinking what Harry was thinking, that was obvious: drunk sex. Even though they had fucked before, there was something about filthily drunk sex that appealed to the both of them.

 **Harry Styles:** _Forget the restaurant, let's get drunk together instead .xx_

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Wish it was that easy :( we will find a time and place. I miss you baby xx_

Harry's emotions still weren't used to being called baby, it killed him inside. He was so soppy that something as small as a pet name was enough to make him swoon whenever it was used. He wanted to openly be Louis', but obviously the whole family thing got in the way. Either way, Harry was glad for the time being that Louis and Liam _were_ brothers, as otherwise they may never have been introduced in the first place. Harry was pinning the blame on Liam.

Instead of replying to Louis' text via text, Harry got the sudden urge to _call_ him instead. He pressed onto Louis' contact info and tapped the call button with minimal hesitation, holding the device to his ear and waiting as it rang through. Immediately upon receiving the call, Harry knew it was the wrong time.

"Hi, Zayn!" Louis improvised, a slight annoyance to his voice, perhaps a hint to Harry to call at a more suitable time. "I'll call you back in a bit, I'm watching something with _Liam._ "

"Okay, speak later." Harry mumbled, before speedily hanging up. How could he have been so stupid? The riskiness of something as simple as a phone call was monstrous, but it was Louis' fault too for picking up in the first place.

Harry figured that perhaps - _maybe_ \- the two of them enjoyed the thrill of how risky it was, and how Liam had absolutely no clue whatsoever (sort of) what was going on. The shiver that ran through Harry, when reminiscing on how risky it had been for he and Louis to actually have sex while Liam and Niall were downstairs, was a dense one. He realised that maybe he had some sort of kink for it, risky things, whatever that could be labelled as. He wanted it again.

* * *

That coming Saturday, during a rather boring bakery shift, Harry was working the till once again, as Liam and Niall always called dibs on the less stressful jobs before he had the chance to. There were the first occasional streams of customers, but it seemed to get a bit more quiet as the clock stretched it out to the 2pm mark, two hours before closing. Harry could have sworn he was close to falling asleep at the till, and Niall's hand clasping down on his shoulder from behind caused him to jump back into reality.

"Did you say something?" Harry mused, confusion struck on his face.

"Yeah," Niall snorted, "It's time for your break, you wanna go first, you daydreamer?"

"Oh, thank God, I've been dying for a smoothie from Costa." Harry groaned in relief, having been hallucinating about it all day. He jumped down from the high stool he had set in front of the till, untying his apron and flinging it down onto the counter. He grabbed his bag from the staff room before passing back through. "Later, losers."

"Enjoy it, Haz." Liam smiled, sending him off with a friendly salute. "You've got half an hour, yeah?"

"I know, I know, see ya." Harry sang, before leaving the bakery altogether. It was colder outside, without the warm air conditioning inside to aid the fact that he had left his damn coat at home. He usually stayed in the staff room during his breaks, never usually leaving the building, but he had been craving a tropical smoothie all day and it was internally killing him at this point.

He walked as fast as he could down Macclesfield Road, towards the roundabout and across to Costa. It was handy having it so close to work, yet he felt he didn't appreciate it enough. He entered the busy coffee shop, which was almost packed with people for a Saturday afternoon, and joined the queue. And it was like his eyes were automatically drawn towards a certain point of the queue, throughout the general buzz of the atmosphere, to the space where someone who looked very much like Louis was stood. And it looked so much like him because it _was_ him. Harry, like a starry-eyed schoolgirl with a crush, sucked in a shocked gasp and his heart started thudding. But he stayed put, knowing he couldn't just wrestle through the queue to get to Louis, and just kept his eyes trained on Louis as he ordered at the front.

Harry had a little smile playing on his face, head tilted aside slightly, knowing that he probably looked absolutely psychotic stood there alone but couldn't help it. Louis looked so good, dressed today in his faded blue denim jacket, a plain white t-shirt beneath, and his black jeans. So simple, yet he looked so fucking hot, and Harry's day was instantly made. It seemed Louis had the same pull towards Harry, as when he had received his drink and had turned round, he looked straight Harry's way. Harry's socially awkward self pretended he wasn't even looking in the first place, like he hadn't noticed, and raised his eyebrows in false surprise when they linked eyes.

Louis headed straight over, lodging himself beside Harry in the queue, holding his drink.

"Hi." He chuckled. "Nice to see you. Lunch break, yeah? Liam and Niall still there?"

"Yeah, my break. We're good." Harry laughed, shyly looking down at his feet. "Are you alone?"

"I managed to lose Eleanor earlier, she made me go shopping with her." Louis sighed, with a defeated smile. "But I've obviously got to keep it up, so I tolerated it. Told her I had some family commitments. Lied, obviously."

They reached the front of the queue and Harry ordered what he wanted, before Louis whipped his own credit card out and pressed it onto the card reader to pay before Harry could even protest otherwise.

"Oh," Harry nervously chuckled, absolutely despising how shy he always got when he actually saw Louis face-to-face, "Thanks, Louis."

"How long do you have for your break?" Louis asked, nudging his head towards the exit as a way of gesturing for Harry to leave with him.

"Half an hour."

"I brought my car, wanna go for a drive?" Louis suggested, pointing to where his BMW was parked at the edge of the street.

"Sure." Harry grinned, his stomach erupting with butterflies. Yeah, this was kind of a dream to him, without any chance of getting caught by Liam or Niall, as they'd never be able to leave the bakery while Harry was on break. It was perfect, the perfect chance.

They jumped into Louis' car, Louis slotting his drink into the cup holder between their seats before starting the car.

"Any preferences?"

"Well, I've only got, like, twenty minutes now so nowhere far." Harry giggled. "Don't go whisking me away now."

Louis playfully smiled at him, pulling the car out into the road.

"I'll just _drive._ " He suggested, doing that. He turned on the radio to a moderate volume, drumming his hand along to the beat, and Harry was very glad he had decided to go to Costa today.

"So, what's been happening?" Louis filled the silence, his drink in one hand and the other clutching the steering wheel.

"Well, I've been missing you." Harry admitted. "As usual."

"I've missed you too." Louis said, placing his drink back down so he could pat Harry's leg instead. "So, so much."

Harry smirked to himself and stroked over Louis' hand, embracing the soft skin.

"I kinda wanna kiss you." He admitted, speaking exactly what was on his mind.

"I'm driving, baby."

Harry hummed out a whine of protest, pointing to a lay-by where the road dipped in to the left. "You wouldn't be driving if you pulled in over there."

"God, you really _do_ mean that." Louis chuckled, indicating before pulling into the exact spot Harry had pointed out, switching off the engine. Harry placed his half-finished drink beside Louis' into the cup holder before inviting himself to climb right through to the back seats, earning a chuckle from Louis. "Wow, getting straight to it."

"Come on, time's running out."

"Alright, patience." Louis smirked, before unclipping his seatbelt and climbing through to join Harry.

Harry's breath hitched as Louis pushed him down along the seats before climbing over him, attaching their lips in an instant. Harry appreciatively moaned into the kiss, hands sliding under the material of Louis' t-shirt beneath his jacket to glide up the hot skin of his back. They were going full throttle with the making out, no time to waste, and Louis was quickly involving tongue and Harry felt like he was in heaven once again. Louis' mouth tasted fruity and sweet, from his drink, and he was gently holding onto Harry's hip. They must have been making out like that for a good ten minutes, biting on each other's lips and caressing each other through the kiss, and Louis' lips moved to kissing around Harry's neck and collarbones, so Harry was tilting his head back in bliss to reveal the expanse of neck, which became Louis' canvas. They got so lost in it that they didn't comprehend the fact that Louis was biting and sucking harshly onto Harry's neck, which was clearly visible, and Harry had no clue how prominent it would be in another ten minutes.

By the time they finished, and they were glossy-lipped and panting, Harry had just three minutes before the end of his break.

"Shit," He laughed through a heavy breath, after checking the time on his phone and fixing his fringe quickly, "Could you drive me back? I didn't realise how long we had been doing that for."

"Of course. That was well needed though, wasn't it?"

Harry nodded and giggled, before they exited the back seats and jumped into the front. Harry's drink had melted by now, more of a liquid drink now than a smoothie, and he managed to down the rest of it during the frantic journey back to the bakery. Louis dropped Harry down the road a little, so as not to be spotted even driving past the bakery, and they kissed once more before Harry frantically waved him goodbye and full-on sprinted towards his workplace.

Just on time - luckily.

He was completely out of breath, binning his empty cup as he swept up to behind the counter, where luckily Liam was too occupied serving a customer and Niall was sorting out some bread. Harry dropped his stuff off into the staff room again, still able to taste Louis slightly on his lips, before untidily doing his apron up around himself and trying to regather his flustered thoughts. What in the world had even happened? It had occurred so fast and so randomly that he was still trying to comprehend it.

The lady who was being served left with her order and a smile, the bell delightfully ringing as she left, and Liam turned to give Harry a smile. Then Harry saw his eyes flick downward, to Harry's neck, in an _instant_. Oh shit, Harry hadn't even taken enough care to look in the damn mirror before entering work again. He knew exactly what Liam was gawking at.

He stifled a laugh at Harry. "Umm... why is there a love bite on your neck, Harry?"

Harry was so stuck on what to say, eyes wide and bewildered, and he blurted out a completely stupid and incoherent response.

"W-What? Do I?"

Niall was involved now, smirking in amusement.

"What the hell?" He loudly laughed, pointing at Harry's neck. "I'm so confused!"

Liam's eyebrows furrowed then, so suddenly that Harry worried he had let his mind wonder too much about the possibilities.

"Who gave you that, Harry? Don't play dumb, it wasn't there before you left half an hour ago."

"It..." Harry shook his head in defeat, waving a hand and trying to get them to dismiss the situation. "It's nothing."

"C'mon, we're your best mates, H!" Niall protested, tugging on Harry's apron annoyingly. "Tell us!"

"It was Jamie, okay?!" Harry blurted out. For goodness sake, they hadn't seen Jamie in _ages_ , where had that stupid reply come from? Well, it was better than admitting it was Liam's fucking brother.

"Jamie?" Liam choked out a laugh, "Really? You're still in contact with him?"

"Yes, okay? Leave it now, it was no big deal."

"How did you end up getting a love bite from him in such a short space of time, if we haven't even seen him in ages?"

"Isn't it your break time now, Liam?" Harry rose an eyebrow, swiftly changing the subject. "Go, you're wasting your own time."

Liam groaned in frustration, ripping his apron off and slinging it over the back of the chair.

"Yeah, fine. But I want to hear Jamie's side of this."

NO! Oh God, Harry hadn't thought this one through.

"He told me not to tell you! He'll be mad, please don't!" Harry improvised, as Liam headed towards the staff room.

"Harry, I'm not dumb. I know it wasn't fucking Jamie." Liam mumbled, half annoyed, before storming into the staff room.

Harry and Niall exchanged bewildered looks, though Harry was definitely more so.

Shit, Harry was in a real mess.


	23. Twenty-Three

"What the fuck was that all about?" Niall whispered in bewilderment to Harry, following Liam's mild freak-out while disclosing that he _knew it 'wasn't fucking Jamie'_ who gave Harry the love bite.

"I have no idea." Harry voiced, his tone wavering as his heart thumped. "Why did he get so mad?"

"Who else could it possibly be?" Niall pondered, though trying to sound like he was on Harry's side, unpackaging some muffins and using the metal utensils to put them behind the display glass. Harry was too busy awkwardly strolling around, trying to look busy.

"No idea, maybe he just got touchy for no reason because he thinks I'm lying." Harry suggested, sighing heavily as he fell back onto the high stool. "I can't let Ed see this mark, he'll probably have a go at me 'cause I have it at work."

"It's your fault for getting it on with Jamie during your break." Niall smirked, wiggling his eyebrows. "Mate, I'm not even surprised either. You and Jamie were bound to get closer, you fucking _kissed_ , for crying out loud, remember?"

"Of course I remember." Harry chuckled, scrunching up a spare apron from the hooks and throwing it at Niall to irritate him. 

He preoccupied himself by working in the stockroom for the duration of Liam's break, finally making somebody other than himself take the turn of working the till whenever a customer came in. He was dreading Liam coming back from his break, because then it was _Niall's_ turn, meaning only Harry and Liam would be in the bakery. Harry could already taste the awkwardness.

By the time Liam came back, and Harry could hear him outside telling Niall to go on his break, Harry had been pretending to be busy in that stockroom for too long. He wanted to cower beneath the shelves and refuse to come out. A moment later, Liam peeked his head round the door.

"You coming out here?" He questioned, voice very monotone. It was evident he was still pissed off.

"Yeah, I'm pretty much done in here." Harry awkwardly informed him, moving to catch the door as Liam let it fall behind him as he left again. Harry entered the main space again, where Niall was absent now and a customer had luckily just strolled in to distract any tension for the time being.

Harry awkwardly skulked about, doing pointless little things, while Liam served the customer. He hated this, not knowing what was on Liam's mind. What he would give at that moment to be a psychic.

The ominous sound of the bell above the door tolling a moment later, signalling the exit of the only present customer, was an awful thing. An immediately thick atmosphere flooded the room, almost drowning Harry, and Liam was drumming his fingers on the till's buttons into the silence. Harry wanted to go into the office and tell Ed he quit at that point, anything to get away from the damn awkwardness.

"It's still really bothering me." Liam murmured, so quietly and inconspicuously that Harry only just picked up on it. He cocked his head up in Liam's direction.

"What, Li?"

" _What, Li?_ " Liam mocked Harry's voice in a taunting impression, rolling his eyes when he faced him. "You know what I'm talking about, don't use those stupid names now."

"I don't see why you've got to start an argument," Harry extinguished, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his apron. "I've already told you the truth, if you're fussing about the mark on my neck again."

"I've known you for over two years, Harry. Do you _really_ think I wouldn't be able to tell when you're lying?" Liam spat. 

_Niall couldn't tell Harry had lied, clearly._

"Come on, Liam, what else could have possibly happened? I saw Jamie in Costa, we got chatting, took a walk, things went too far." Harry improvised on the spot, knowing that it came out great in words but was unsure whether Liam would truly believe it.

Liam slowly nodded along, but then his face contorted into unrest suddenly and he began shaking his head instead.

"I don't buy that at all," He mumbled, "That isn't like you, it had to be someone you see... more _often,_ we barely see Jamie now."

Harry really hoped that his sudden gulp wasn't too visible, but he couldn't restrain it. Liam was adding things up, his mind illustrating the truths that were hidden in plain sight.

"Why isn't it like me to do that? I liked Jamie a bit, in case you didn't notice. And how do you know we haven't been in contact?"

"Did my brother give you that love bite, Harry?" Liam struck the leading question, his expression completely straight and scathing as he stared squarely at Harry. Harry felt like his skin had flushed hot all over, and as though a lump had formed in his throat. He couldn't let his guard down now, he knew how pissed Liam would be, he probably wouldn't talk to him for _weeks._

"No!" Harry exclaimed, reassurance laced in his tone. "Of course not, I promise! I can't believe you'd think _that_!"

He added a disbelieving laugh for effect, as though he found it absolutely hilarious that Liam would even suggest such a thing. Liam's expression gradually softened, to Harry's absolute pleasure, and a relieved smile crept onto his face.

"Oh, thank _God_!" Liam sighed, literally using his palm to wipe his forehead in comical relief. "I'm sorry for suggesting that, I guess I'm just incredibly paranoid at the moment. Thanks for clarifying, mate."

"I assure you, it was Jamie. I wouldn't lie about that, Liam, I'd tell you right off the bat if your fucking _brother_ was giving me love bites." Harry chuckled, patting Liam on the arm.

"Did you see him at all today, during your break?" Liam casually asked, no longer convicting Harry of anything. "I think he's been with El today."

"Didn't see him, no. I just went over to Costa, met with Jamie, we went to the park--"

"Okay, okay, you ran me through that already. No need to tell me again." Liam waved a hand in disinterest, moving to get on with something else.

Harry felt a little more relived now that he had tricked both Liam and Niall into believing Jamie had given him the love bite. He felt so deceitful.

* * *

The moment they were all released from work, and Harry had opted for the back seat in Liam's car so he could discreetly text, he shot a message to Louis.

 **Harry:** _OMG Liam came so close to finding us out today!! You left a mark on my neck ;) I told him it was that Jamie guy .xx_

"Are you texting Jamie, H?" Niall smirked, glancing over his shoulder from the passenger seat.

"Maaaybe." Harry sang, a smug smile present. It was hardly a lie, was it? He didn't confirm or deny it.

"We'll have to invite him round to my place again if you're involved with him again," Liam smirked, "So me and Niall can try to tolerate the P.D.A."

Oh God, Harry hadn't thought this through thoroughly enough. What if Liam went out of his way to contact Jamie? This was bound to fall apart soon. Harry made a hum of acknowledgement but didn't continue the topic further. His phone buzzed in his hand.

 **Louis:** _Oh fuck really ! Well it definitely wasn't that Jamie kid, he doesnt deserve you xx_

Yup, Louis had really gotten jealous over Harry simply stating to his mates that Jamie had given him it. Bless him. Harry wasn't complaining, anyway.

 **Harry:** _And btw if Liam asks, I didn't see you at all today ok? I told him that .xx_

 **Louis:** _Cool cool little Hazza. See you soon yeah ? It was nice seeing you today xx_

 **Harry:** _You too Lou. Yes let's meet up again .xx_

Louis didn't reply again, but Harry was too content to care. Louis wanted to meet up again. This was all real now, they were practically dating. _Were_ they dating? The thought made Harry shudder.

Soon enough, Liam dropped Harry off down his road, sending him off with a salute-type wave. Harry felt like skipping into his home, he was that happy. Everything was good... for now.

* * *

The next morning, Harry awoke at 10am to a message from Liam.

 **Liam:** _Hi wanna come over?? Niall is coming at 11 if you wanna tag along_

Oh great, more awkwardness. Especially if Louis was around, that was bound to just be too much. But how could Harry get out of it? His friends knew already how antisocial he was in his life, he couldn't even say he had other plans.

 **Harry:** _Sure okay._

He wondered what they would do if he just didn't turn up, but knew he couldn't make promises he couldn't keep and would have to attend now. He managed to roll himself out of bed and get into the shower, setting it extra cold towards the end to jolt himself awake, and decided he would walk to Liam's because his parents always got annoyed when he woke them up to ask them about getting lifts.

Usually, Harry had never been the type of guy to believe in karma, but he immediately became a believer as he was walking to Liam's. Across the road from him, casually strolling, was _Jamie._

"Oi, Styles!" Came Jamie's voice, ripping through the calm, Sunday morning air. Harry wanted to sprint away and scream at him to fuck off.

"Oh, hi!" He called back, wincing when he saw Jamie looking both ways on the road before jogging over. He looked particularly good today, clad in his leather jacket and some skinny jeans, his hair gelled into a ruffled quiff.

"Long time no see, buddy, how are you doing?" Jamie asked, pulling Harry into half a hug. Harry felt so tense.

"Good, good. You?" Harry returned the question, stuffing his hands into his pockets and scuffing the toe of his boot on the pavement.

"Good. Where are you off to?" Jamie queried. Harry wanted to lie, _God_ did he want to fucking lie.

"Liam's." He surrendered. "He invited me over."

"Do you think... he'd mind if _I_ tagged along? I know it's been a while, it's just my mate stood me up and I don't have any plans now." Jamie shrugged, with a small smile.

Harry wanted to fucking die. He couldn't say no, could he? It would be too mean. But nor could he get Jamie to play along with the love bite bullshit story he had stirred up, it would be too much to explain, and then he would also have to trust Jamie with the Louis secret. He was trapped, ultimately.

"Uh... sure? I mean, I could ask Liam." Harry offered. He was more than tempted to pretend Liam said no, but that wouldn't work either and would just cause arguments. He pulled out his phone and texted Liam quickly, while Jamie was blabbering on about the mate who had stood him up.

 **Harry:** _Just bumped into Jamie in the street, can he come round too???_

What was he even _doing_? He was effectively setting a trap for himself by actually asking Liam. All that this was right now was a recipe for disaster -- Harry had fucked up BIG time. He never thought he would think it, but he really wished he could take back his make-out session with Louis at that moment.

 **Liam:** _Of course!!!!! This has worked perfectly, what a great coincidence you bumped into him again :)_

Liam was so hyped to see Jamie again, this was all falling apart. Harry wanted a quick excuse, anything to get away from it all. He thought of something on the spot, knowing he couldn't brave going to Liam's. He widened his eyes at his phone screen all of a sudden, gasping with a hand over his mouth.

"What? Harry?" Jamie worried, placing a hand on each of Harry's shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"Family emergency," Harry hurried out, shaking his head frantically and thanking God he was a half decent actor. "I've got to go, I'm so sorry!"

"I'm sorry to hear that, buddy! You get home, I hope it's not anything too bad!" Jamie reassured. "I'll tell Liam and Niall, don't worry!"

What Harry didn't realise, as he hurried back off down the road, was that his absence from Liam's house was only going to make things even worse.

* * *

**13:18pm**

**Liam:** _Jamie made it to mine. We had a little chat. Harry, you and I need to talk. Again._

"Fuck." Harry breathed, upon reading the message. He was freaking out, close to hyperventilating. He had been cooped up in his bedroom all day, panicking over what was possibly happening at Liam's, and now he had a little taster. All he could think to do was text Jamie, praying he would keep the message a secret.

 **Harry:** _Jamie please go along with my story and don't show them this text. I will explain all later, I'm so sorry for all the confusion._

He frantically waited for a reply, thankful when one came through.

 **Jamie:** _They haven't seen ur message. OK mate I will tell them it was me but u have a hell of a lot u have to tell me now......._

 **Harry:** _Thank you so much! I promise to make it up to you._

 **Jamie:** _Sounds good to me xxx_

Harry was so stressed. This was complete bullshit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?


	24. Twenty-Four

**Liam:** _Jamie just finally admitted that it WAS him who gave you the mark. You little devil Harry ;) Sorry you couldn't come over today, hope whatever has happened is resolved:(_

Harry realised now that he really could have gone to Liam's house too, and just explained everything to Jamie on the way, but he had felt way too awkward. He still had the gruelling job of telling Jamie, in detail, that he and Louis were messing around behind Liam's back. He didn't even know if he fully _trusted_ Jamie yet, knowing he would probably have to please him enough for him to keep his mouth shut.

 **Harry:** _Yup, he's let our secret out now. Cheers mate, see you tomorrow yeah_

 **Liam:** _Yeah yeah. Maybe we can reorganise an afternoon @ mine for tomorrow after skl instead?? Jamie says he can do it then_

Oh great, Harry was being thrown straight in at the deep end. He needed mental preparation for this, realising that he was quite frankly entering a false relationship just like Louis now. This was all turning to shit.

 **Harry:** _Yeah okay, maybe. See you tomorrow Li._

Fucking fantastic.

* * *

It was clear, from Harry's perspective, that Liam and Niall were acting particularly sweet towards him at school, due to his lie of a "family emergency." At least it took attention away from the Jamie scenario (which was yet another lie.)

"You alright, mate?" Niall asked in an overly sympathetic, after Harry had strolled into class late.

"Yeah I'm good," Harry softly smiled, "Thanks."

To Harry's dismay, Liam immediately found a way to veer the conversation back towards Jamie again, once his eyes set on the slightly faded purple bruise on Harry's neck.

"By the way, Jamie told us about how much you dirty talk." He smirked, dramatically wiggling his eyebrows. Harry's cheeks flushed pink in both embarrassment and annoyance - annoyance that Jamie had made up something like that.

" _Dirty_ talk?" He piped up, face contorting in confusion. "What did he say exactly?"

"That you were telling him how much you want him, apparently, while he was giving you that thing." Niall chipped in, followed by a sharp chuckle. Harry groaned aloud, shaking his head.

"That's not true."

"Whatever you say." Liam tutted, smugly, ruffling Harry's curls. "We _deeefinitely_ believe you."

Harry was definitely going to have a word with Jamie about that, considering he had already told a lie which deeply embarrassed Harry. It was stupid. It was obvious he had feelings towards Harry, found him hot and what not, but lying about what happened was unnecessary... even if that did make Harry a hypocrite to think.

A little while later into the lesson, a text from Louis came through to Harry's phone while it was riskily sat on the tabletop, for Liam and Niall to see, its screen flashing up, but they were luckily too busy concentrating on what their teacher was saying to see Louis' name blatantly there as the sender. Harry held his phone beneath the table to look at it.

 **Louis:** _Liam mentioned you all coming round tonight ? Does that mean you and Jamie are going to be acting like a couple or somethin ?? And are you gonna have to tell him about me & you Harry because that is risky, what if he tells Liam? xx_

Louis was clearly just as worried as Harry was about Jamie, unsure whether they should really disclose it to him. He would be the only one, other than the two of them, to know; it was a huge risk.

 **Harry:** _I will see if I can trust him Lou. We will hopefully not be acting like a couple. See you later hopefully, I miss you .xx_

Still, Liam was sat right beside Harry in a state of compete oblivion as to what was going on, paying no attention whatsoever to Harry and his texting. Harry still loved the thrill of it, quite honestly.

* * *

Harry and his two mates arrived at Liam's before Jamie, considering they had gone there straight from school. Louis' car was parked in the driveway and it sparked excitement within Harry; just the mere thought of seeing him again made him feel new. They all kicked their shoes off in the hallway, heading straight into the living room, where Louis was sat on the sofa, scrolling through his phone with a TV show on in the background. His eyes flicked up, immediately setting on Harry before moving onto the others, not wanting to make things too obvious by focusing all of his attention in one place.

"Hi, Louis!" Niall enthusiastically greeted, strolling in and allowing himself to sit right next to Louis. Bless him, he really admired him.

"Hey, you guys alright?" Louis gave his usual greeting, a slight squint as he smiled, which killed Harry inside due to the immense hotness. Damn.

"Mhmm." Harry casually responded, sitting on the far end of the sofa, curling his feet up to rest up next to him. Louis looked at Harry again, briefly, eyeing the mark on his neck proudly yet so discreetly, as though he was looking over the three of them for equally as long.

"Did you see El today?" Liam queried, the last one to sit down, somewhere between Harry and Louis.

"Briefly this morning, she had to run her little brother to school." Louis said, a little smile. "Is Jamie coming then?"

Harry wished he wasn't.

"Yeah, he should be here in a few minutes." Liam informed, after checking the time on his phone. "Then we will have trouble keeping him off of Harry."

Louis' eyes fell on Harry once again, a smirk slowly dispersing onto his face again. "Is that so?"

Harry shyly shrugged under Louis' smug gaze, finding his hands very interesting all of a sudden in order to lose the eye contact. "I dunno."

The doorbell rang into the house, as if on cue.

"That'll be him. Go and let your lover in, Haz." Liam persuaded, slapping Harry's leg to get him up. Harry rolled his eyes and jumped up to his feet, hoping Louis was checking out his arse as he did, sauntering out into the hallway and throwing open the front door.

Jamie stood with his hands nonchalantly tucked into his front pockets, a boy-next-door sort of smile on his face. It gradually morphed into one which radiated smugness, once seeing Harry reminded him of their frantic texting the previous afternoon.

"Listen," Harry speedily whispered, "Go along with it for now, you gave me this mark. I will explain all of this later."

"Nice to see you too, baby!" Jamie called out, enthusiastically, continuing to play along with the facade so that Liam and Niall would overhear from in the living room.

"But don't overdo it," Harry scolded in whisper, gaze fixed in irritation on Jamie, "Like, saying I dirty talk, or something like that."

"Just told them what I'd imagine to be true." Jamie winked, ruffling Harry's hair before taking him by the hand and confidently guiding him into the living room.

They received a comical cheer from Liam and Niall upon their entry, but Louis wouldn't lift his eyes from his phone screen. He couldn't even bare to look at Harry holding hands with Jamie, it was a small gesture, but it broke him too much to witness.

"You took your time in the hallway." Niall wiggled his eyebrows. "Busy making out?"

"Funny." Harry spat, playfully rolling his eyes and returning to his previous seat. Jamie sat right beside him, between him and Liam, cosying right up to Harry just to make the most of the situation. In the corner of Harry's eye, he noticed a single glance from Louis, like he couldn't take it anymore and had forced himself to look, and he was desperate to link eyes with Louis but knew he couldn't.

"Who wants a drink?" Liam announced, clapping his hands together and startling Harry completely. He had been in such a daze thinking about Louis that he had unattached from reality for a few moments.

"Yeah, you're the host, Li, grab us all one!" Jamie playfully commanded, clapping his hands together to jokingly hurry him up. Liam rolled his eyes and wandered off to the kitchen, leaving a rather awkward silence behind.

Harry was just glad Niall was there, as his lively laugh along to the show on the television helped to brighten the situation up a little. Harry used this time as an opportunity to glance Louis' way briefly, linking eyes with him in eye contact which seemed to convey a lot, mostly an apology for acting so comfy with Jamie. Louis smiled, a quick and reassuring one, before concentrating on the television again.

Liam came in a moment later, except he was lacking any drinks, and instead held a small, little sheet of paper. His eyebrows were furrowed, looking straight at Louis.

"Lou, did you go to Costa on Saturday? Because this receipt says so." Liam interrogated, holding it up.

Harry felt like his heart could have stopped at that moment. Louis seemed the same, the way he tensed was almost something that Harry could sense.

"I... yeah, I did. Why?" Louis hesitated, lacking the usual confidence from his voice. Niall and Jamie were confused, Harry was waiting for the worst to happen, and Liam was determined to get answers for what he thought to be a delusion.

"Because the time on the receipt is the time Harry went on break... and you didn't see each other in there?" Liam pushed. This was ridiculous now, Harry was fed up with it.

"He might have been there, I just didn't see him," Harry shrugged, "I was too busy paying attention to Jamie anyway."

That even hurt Harry just to _say_ , so he had no clue how much Louis would have hated it. He tried to hide it with a convincing nod to Liam.

"Yeah, exactly. I didn't see those two either, it _was_ pretty busy in there." Louis noted. "What are you trying to get at, anyway? Why would it matter if I had seen Harry?"

 _Good, Louis was playing the oblivious, responsible brother part well._ He was acting as though he had no idea what Liam was insinuating in general, which made it more convincing.

"Because..." Liam sighed loudly, shaking his head. "Don't worry, it's nothing. I'm just completely paranoid about nothing, Jamie already told me he was with Harry."

"Yeah, I was." Jamie confirmed, before kissing Harry on the cheek. Harry saw Louis clench his fist suddenly, but then he loosened it when he noticed he had, concentrating on the screen again.

Man, was this fucked up. Jamie didn't even know what he was defending here, or for what reason, yet he still played along. He was bound to get curious soon, or maybe even ask for something in return for his contribution to their lie.

Liam left again to continue the making of the drinks, relieving Harry and Louis. Harry noticed that Jamie was looking Louis over a bit now, seemingly paying attention to him once again.

"Why's Liam not as hot as you?" Jamie whispered, so his voice didn't carry far enough to the kitchen, and Louis whipped his head in Jamie's direction suddenly, having noticed he was being spoken to. He then let out a breathy laugh.

"Cheers, mate. I'd have to say I took all the good genes." Louis dropped a wink. Harry didn't want him doing that, it was only going to make Jamie like him more. Plus, Niall was shooting Jamie a scolding look for doing this in front of Harry, his so-called 'love interest' at the moment.

Harry thought it was unfair that they were speaking about Liam like that (though Louis had the right to, it was his brother), because Liam was a very good looking guy too. What people liked about Louis was his cool, laid back aura, how he was older than them too. Just pure hotness.

Harry knew it would be time to explain the situation to Jamie soon, and he was completely dreading it. Especially because Jamie liked both him _and_ Louis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not too long, I know! Not feeling great tonight but wanted to update something, will be better next update :)


	25. Twenty-Five

Harry knew he had to get Jamie alone in order to talk to him about what exactly was going on. Doing this wasn't so easy when they were all in _Liam's_ house, lounging around in the living room, with Louis present too. He and Harry kept linking eyes, almost as if they were non-verbally discussing that something had to be said to Jamie before he ended up questioning it in front of Liam.

"I'm just going to walk down to Sainsbury's, anyone need anything or wanna come with?" Harry hinted, knowing Jamie would probably take any chance he could get to be alone with him.

"I'll come!" He immediately chipped in, jumping to his feet. Harry's plan worked, as Liam or Niall didn't say they wanted to go too, probably figuring they would leave the 'love birds' alone together.

"Get some crisps and chocolate!" Liam demanded playfully. "And Fanta, I crave it."  
Louis gave Harry a discreet but assured nod before he and Jamie left, as though to convey that he knew why Harry was doing what he was.

"Come on then, babe, let's go." Jamie cooed, threading his arm beneath Harry's and behind his back. Harry rolled his eyes as soon as he wasn't in sight of Niall and Liam, before he and Jamie left the room and the house altogether.

"You can get off now." Harry shook Jamie's arm off of him, with an awkward chuckle. "Let's walk, I'll talk, you'll listen."

"Alright, Mr. Assertive!" Jamie smirked. "I'll do whatever you please."

Harry ignored the pretty sexual comments as they began the walk to the shop, knowing that now they had no choice but to buy all the things Liam had listed.

"So... yeah, you must be wondering why I want you to play this boyfriend card, or whatever it is." Harry sighed, glad that he didn't have to link eyes with Jamie as they were walking along.

"I am confused, yeah, but I don't mind it one bit." Jamie was smirking, Harry could sense it, and it urged him to once again roll his eyes. "So tell me, Harry. Why?"

"Can you _guess_ why?" Harry tried, as they looked both ways before crossing a semi-busy road. He wanted Jamie to at least try to guess, so it would soften the blow of actually telling him everything straight out.

"Is it because you like the thought of being my love interest?" Jamie wiggled his eyebrows, giving Harry a rough nudge so that he almost toppled over completely, into the road. He slapped Jamie scoldingly on the arm.

"No, you tosser! Stop being annoying. Take a real guess."

"I don't know, though!" Jamie flailed his arms out in cluelessness. "Tell me, come on! I'm so intrigued now!"

"Okay, okay! So this mark," Harry pointed at the fading mark on his neck, after tugging down the collar of his t-shirt, "I said to Liam and Niall is from _you_ , because I didn't want them to know who actually gave it to me."

Jamie seemed completely lost as to who it could be, his face frozen in contorted perplexity. "Who gave it to you?"

Maybe there was even some jealousy in his tone, Harry couldn't tell. He really wished he didn't have to admit who really did, but it was his own fault for using Jamie to cover up the mess. He had no choice now, if Jamie was going to play along.

"Louis."

Jamie stopped walking altogether, his mouth dropping open and eyes flying open. He had gripped onto Harry's sleeve to stop him in his tracks too.

"Tomlinson?" He gasped out. Harry shyly nodded. "No fucking way!"

"Yes fucking way." Harry nervously chuckled, tugging his arm from Jamie's grasp.

"Harry, that's _so fucking hot_ , are you actually serious?!" Jamie exclaimed, excitement struck in his face. "Liam's hot brother gave hot _you_ a fucking love bite!"

"Oh my God, I already regret telling you. Jamie, _please_ don't tell Liam. Or Niall. Or _anyone_ , actually, do you understand me?" Harry dictated, not open to playing any games right now. He needed clarification that Jamie wasn't going to take this as a joke.

"Yes, I hear you loud and clear! I'm just dazzled by these wonderful images in my mind." Jamie mused, smugly. Harry wanted to push him over.

"Okay, you can have images, but you can't tell anyone!" Harry hissed, continuing the walk so Jamie started trailing along behind him.

"So you're expecting me to just play along with your little game?" Jamie called, swiftly catching up.

"It's not a little game, it's serious. If Liam finds out, he will be so upset and pissed off that this has been going on behind his back." Harry scolded, thinking of Liam's disapproval. He knew how irritated he would be if he were to find out. "So yes, please do go along with it."

"I will go along with it _iiif_..." Jamie trailed off with a smirk.

"No." Harry cut in, shaking his head. "No ifs, just agree."

"No way am I agreeing if there's nothing in it for me! Think about it from my perspective here, you've just thrown me into this against my will and I apparently have no choice but to agree!" Jamie defended, as they finally came up to the roundabout by the shop.

"Because I know the 'something in it for you' is going to be something stupid." Harry rolled his eyes, the warm rush of air from the air conditioning soothing them as they entered the shop. It felt like Jamie was an annoying young child bouncing along behind him, projecting irritating things.

"It won't be stupid! Can you at least let me think about what I want? This should be a deal, right? I'm not doing all this work for free, hiding your little love affair with Liam's hot brother."

" _Louis._ " Harry angrily corrected. "Call him Louis. Look, fine. Think about the stupid thing you want out of this, but please, for the love of God, keep your mouth shut about it for now?"

"Alright!"

"No glances at us, no stupid little smiles, just act like you were before. But may I say now, cut back on the flirting with Louis." Harry added that on, knowing he could finally claim Louis as his own, away from Jamie's needy grasp.

"He's hot, just wanted to see what chance I could have with a guy I presumed was straight," Jamie's coy smile was back, "which he isn't."

Harry scooped up what they wanted and held it in his arms while they approached the tills, deciding to leave Jamie's little comment unnoticed. He realised that all though out paying at the till, Jamie's stupid, smug smile remained, and he kept staring into space.

He was probably considering what the fuck he wanted from this. Harry hated the choice he had made now.

* * *

The moment Harry and Jamie were back, and Liam had immediately stolen the food and beverages they had come back with, Jamie was already looking between the two boys with that little smile. For fuck's sake, he was so irritating.

Harry pulled out his phone and sent a text to him.

 **Harry:** _Stop the smiling, you're being so obvious!_

Jamie's phone beeped in his hand.

 **Harry:** _And turn the damn volume off please._

He saw Jamie turning the volume down before typing out a reply.

 **Jamie:** _Sorry, just imagining what he would do to u in bed FUCK, have you fucked??_

Harry deeply inhaled, holding it before exhaling, trying to contain himself. He wanted to slap Jamie, he really did.

 **Harry:** _That's none of your business. Now stop being so annoying._

Harry hit send before glancing up at Louis, who was watching carefully. His gaze was mostly set on Jamie, a penetrating state that said: _"What are you stirring up?"_ And Jamie winked at Louis, so Harry wanted to throw up.

 **Jamie:** _That's a yes. Dirty boy_

Harry locked his phone and refused to reply. He then unlocked it moments later to text Louis, seeing that Liam and Niall were too involved with eating and watching the television to notice.

 **Harry:** _He knows and he's being a complete dick about it .xx_

Louis discreetly pulled out his phone and took a look.

 **Louis:** _For fuck sake is he ? I can tell actually. He agreeing to keep quiet though ?? Xx_

 **Harry:** _Says he wants something out of it. He won't get it .xx_

Louis glared down at his phone in distaste.

 **Louis:** _Just ignore him, he's being immature and will stop soon Xx_

 **Harry:** _Hopefully, because I'm about 3 seconds away from strangling him .xx_

That was very true.

 **Louis:** _I'll help if he winks at me once more Xx_

Harry giggled to himself, earning immediate glances from Liam and Niall.

"What?" Liam asked, intrigued suddenly as to what Harry was laughing at.

"No, nothing. Just a funny photo." Harry lied.

"Let's see." Niall craned his neck up to try to take a look at Harry's phone, so close to seeing Louis' name at the top of the screen, so Harry turned his phone away.

"It's gone now, I was scrolling through Instagram."

Niall lost interest quickly anyway, going back to the TV. Pretty close call. But Jamie seemed to find it funny. Stupid boy, he was already too much to handle in all this. Just too much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty short I knooooow, it's just there's not much more to cover for this chapter!


	26. Twenty-Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay.

After school the next day, Jamie was waiting outside for Harry, Niall and Liam. It was clear he was trying maybe a little bit _too_ hard to look cool, what with the leather jacket on a too-hot day, and his foot propped up behind him against the brick wall. He winked at Harry as they approached, causing Harry to scowl at him in secret.

"Hey, babe." Jamie chirped, encasing Harry in a tight embrace.

"What are you doing here?" Harry hissed in his ear, using the hug as his chance to do so without Niall and Liam hearing.

"Do you want this to be convincing or not?" Jamie challenged, before holding Harry at arm's length with a wide smile. "It's nice to see you too."

"Right, love birds, where should we go?" Liam asked, clapping his hands together. "It's a pretty nice day."

"How about yours, Liam?" Jamie smirked, and Harry immediately shook his head.

"No, I'd say we go hang out at the park," He cut in, "Better during the sunshine, right?"

He already hated his mind's spontaneous decision to blurt out Jamie as being the giver of the now gone love bite. Just because he and Louis had gotten a bit too carried away in the car, they were stuck in this mess with an over-confident Jamie. Bloody stupid. He felt extra bad for Louis during the mess, considering he was the one most at risk if Liam happened to find out through Jamie.

"Yeah, I agree with Harry, the park sounds like our best option." Niall smiled, patting him on the back. "Otherwise we will just be cooped up inside all afternoon."

"Park it is." Liam agreed. Thank God. If they had to see Louis again while they were all together, and Jamie kept giving those annoying glances that he did, Harry would probably end up with twenty-five to life.

So they began the short walk to the local park. And throughout, Harry wanted to push Jamie over approximately seven times due to the sheer number of times he went a bit too far with their act. For example, when he slid his hand a bit _too_ far down Harry's back, despite Niall and Liam being unable to see anyway. Clearly he was taking advantage of the position he was in.

They had a stroll around for about ten minutes, drinking in the sunshine, before they came to a halt at a bench by the duck pond for a sit down. Harry was trying to let the glaring sun keep him positive for now, but he was getting quite tired of both Jamie's over-perfected behaviour _and_ his excessive layering of several aftershaves.

"You two are lucky. I wish I had someone to hold hands with right now." Niall rolled his eyes. "Remember my last girlfriend, Li?"

Harry wanted to join Niall with the eye-rolling, seeing as he had no idea what the real truth was.

"What, the girl who wasn't ever allowed to leave her house?" Liam snickered. "I swear her parents never let her see you. And what do you mean your _last_ girlfriend? You mean your _only_."

"Shut uuup," Niall drawled out, punching Liam on the arm, "Harry's only on _his_ first partner."

"Is he?" Jamie muttered under his breath, and Harry elbowed him in the stomach, reasonably hard, so Jamie groaned in protest and rubbed the injured spot. "Sorry." He breathed.

"Anyway," Liam continued on, "Niall and Haz, did you guys hear about the gossip at school?"

"What gossip?" Harry asked, intrigued. He was always up for a good gossip, especially considering it had all seemed to be about himself lately. It was nice to have a bit of escapism for once.

"Apparently that short red-head girl, Julie is it? She's been secretly seeing Mr. Simons outside of school!" Liam announced, so Niall sucked in a shocked breath, whereas Harry could only link their situation to his with Louis, so he felt more bad for them than anything.

"A secret relationship?" Jamie gaped, blatantly turning to Harry. "Can you believe that, Harry?"

Harry wanted to shoot him.

"Crazy," Harry breathed, "Don't know how they get away with it."

"I know!" Liam erupted, excitedly. "He's, like, forty-something as well!"

"I bet they have some wild sex in private. All people in secret relationships must, seeing as they see each other less than normal couples." Jamie smirked to himself. Harry gave his best effort to push his leg harshly against Jamie's, desperately trying to shut him up.

"That's not something you should be thinking about, I don't think." Harry blandly added.

"Nope, I definitely don't want to think about that." Liam shuddered.

"No, you really _don't_." Jamie mumbled, and Harry loudly sighed, knowing it was yet another reference towards his relationship with Louis. 

He was sick of it. It was clear Jamie was giving him little threats here and there, reminding him that he wasn't going to keep the little secret for free. He wanted something in return, and the longer Harry took to grant whatever that was, the closer Jamie was going to get to leaking the secret to Liam. It was so childishly ridiculous, and Harry wanted to untangle himself from their little pact. He wished he could take it back, involving Jamie.

For the rest of their time spent in the park, Jamie would drop ever-so-subtle hints whenever he had the chance, just small things only Harry knew the context behind, wanting to keep him securely wrapped around his little finger. It didn't help the situation that he liked both Harry and Louis in terms of looks either.

They managed to get rid of Jamie by taking a specific route home, a route which passed closest to his house as they all walked home, and he managed to get himself a kiss on the lips from Harry as a part of their act. Harry, shortly after, wiped his mouth with his sleeve when nobody was looking.

Niall ended up seeing his mum in Sainsbury's while they all passed through to get a drink, so he stayed with her and left Harry and Liam alone. It made Harry feel rather tense, forever skeptical that Liam just _knew_ something, especially as it seemed like he had been trying to add it up: Louis' Costa receipt he had found saying he had been in their on Saturday; his straight-up questioning to Harry on whether it was Louis who gave him the love bite; finding Harry's shoes in the hallway -- he was definitely on some sort of track towards finding out. Luckily they had managed to throw him off a few times.

"I'll walk you home," Liam offered, "Considering your home is closer anyway."

"Cheers, mate." Harry smiled, patting Liam on the arm. "It's been an alright afternoon."

"Yeah, it's nice that Jamie waited around for you." Liam grinned, rather widely. "Are you two, like, proper dating then?"

Harry deeply sighed, kicking along a rock on the pavement in front of him with a weathered Chelsea boot. "I just don't know. It seems like he's not into me for romantic reasons."

"He does seem rather hands-on," Liam commented, tilting his head aside, "Like, he seems to always have his hands on you in some way. Doesn't seem like a real relationship has that, people need space."

Was he onto something again? Harry was sick of never knowing, forever being worried that Liam was hinting that he knew. It was always his paranoia, it couldn't be helped.

"I agree." Harry stated anyway, as they crossed the semi-busy road. "Seems like he's just looking for something else. I don't want that."

Liam hummed, rather bluntly, as though he had lost interest in their conversation already. Or maybe his mind was racing through the potentials.

There was a silence between them for the rest of their walk home, during which Harry had never felt so tense. As they walked up the path to Harry's front door, however, they were met with the rather loud arguing from the other side of the door. Harry felt immediately embarrassed, which was common whenever he brought a friend anywhere near his home.

"Ah, man," Liam frowned in sympathy, patting Harry on the back, "Sorry about that."

"It's a common thing now. Only difference is the sound usually doesn't travel outside the walls. I'm guessing it's a pretty heavy one today."

"Wanna stay round at mine?" Liam offered, with a soft smile. "It'll give you a chance to get away for the night. You can drop by here in the morning to change for school."

"Thank you," Harry appreciatively said, placing his head on Liam's shoulder, "I don't think I could stand it with the shouting at the moment, I already have a headache."

To be honest, Harry was so grateful that Liam was whisking him away from his house, that he forgot about the fact that Louis lived with Liam, and he would get to see him again. Without even having to subtly invite himself over there. It was the perfect opportunity.

They made the walk there, all while Harry's head buzzed with excitement over seeing Louis again, but Liam stayed pretty quiet. He had been in that sort of mood all day though, so Harry tried not to put himself to blame.

Louis' car was on the driveway, luckily, and as Liam opened the door to the house, Harry frowned to see a pair of female dolly shoes in the hallway by Louis' tattered Vans. Eleanor.

"Nice, Eleanor is here!" Liam smiled, noting the shoes too, throwing his coat over the staircase banister. "Louis!"

Louis suddenly strolled from the living room, Eleanor with her arm around him tightly as they giggled away. Then Louis looked up and spotted Harry, his eyes widening ever-so-slightly at the shock of him being there.

"Hi, guys," He greeted, seeming to hold Eleanor less tightly all of a sudden, "Why's just Harry here?"

"His parents were arguing really bad." Liam openly disclosed, so Harry frowned and bowed his head in shame.

"Liam, I don't think you should say unless Harry wants you to," Louis maturely said, backing him up, "It doesn't seem like he wants to talk about it."

"Sorry, H." Liam apologised, putting his arms around Harry's shoulders. "But now you know, I guess."

"Oh darling, I'm sorry to hear that. Do you want a hug?" Eleanor offered, her voice bitterly sweet.

"No." Harry immediately snapped, having not even intended on being so blunt with her, knowing he had to quickly resolve it. "Thanks."

"Oh, okay..." Eleanor smiled anyway. "Hope it all gets better soon."

What a pathetic excuse at sympathy, Harry thought. Things like that didn't just get better, she just wanted to seem like she was helping. Harry could sense Louis' eyes on him, knowing he probably wanted to step forward and give him the biggest of hugs, but he couldn't. They were banned from touching, pretty much, while Liam was around. Harry noticed that Louis' arm had completely left Eleanor's waist now, and he was feeling quite empty inside after seeing how close they had been acting before knowing Harry was present.

"How about you guys come and sit with us? We're watching the TV." Louis offered. Harry knew he just wanted them to be in the same room, whether or not they could sit together or interact too much. But it would kill Harry having to see Eleanor cuddle up to him.

"Yeah!" Liam agreed anyway. "Come on, Harry."

His enthusiasm was pissing Harry off, quite frankly. The way that he changed and turned so over-dramatic whenever Eleanor was mentioned, it was ridiculous and very suspicious; he never used to give a shit about Eleanor, from what Harry recognised.

"Fine." Harry shrugged. "I don't mind."

As they followed Louis and Eleanor into the living room, Harry's phone pinged with a Facebook messenger notification. They all sat down, and Harry pulled out his phone while the others resumed watching the television.

 **Jamie Thompson:** _Have you guessed what I want in return yet? ;) xxx_

Harry deeply inhaled, noticing that Louis was watching him in the corner of his eye, and he brought his hands up to thumb out a response.

 **Harry Styles:** _No, I haven't. And by the way, I don't appreciate the stupid little digs you were giving me whenever anything was mentioned earlier._

He pressed send and turned his notification sounds off, knowing it would distract and annoy whoever was actually paying attention to the television.

 **Jamie Thompson:** _Sorry about that, just making sure you know that I want something. And with that something I'm going to give you two options ;) xxx_

What was this, some sort of fucking game show now? He was being given options, as though he was inclined to choose and be forced.

 **Harry Styles:** _What do you mean by options :/ this isn't a game Jamie._

 **Jamie Thompson:** _Do you want to hear the options or what? ;) Xxx_

 **Harry Styles:** _Tell me the shitty options Jamie. But no promises I'm going to choose either._

Harry glanced up to find Louis still looking at him in secret, his eyebrows furrowed and a look of concern on his face. He probably had a feeling who it was. Harry gave the quickest little smile, just for reassurance, before returning to his phone screen to take in the reply.

 **Jamie Thompson:** _Harry, I either want a BJ from you or a sex tape of you and Liam's hot ass brother. Your choice. Xx_

Harry immediately locked his phone, biting on his lower lip on stress with a thudding heart. Louis linked eyes with him again, and gestured secretly down to his own phone, as a way of asking Harry to message him. Harry unlocked his phone again, while Louis discreetly did the same as though it was a normal thing, and Harry tapped onto their messages.

 **Harry Styles:** _Jamie still won't keep the secret for free. He either wants me to give him a blowjob or a sex tape of you and I._

He heard Louis draw in a long, slow inhale, before the screen showed that he was typing.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _He's not fucking getting either._

This was going to be a problem, if Jamie was planning on causing trouble until he got what he wanted.

 **Harry Styles:** _I don't know what to do, he will threaten to tell :(_

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _You do realise that if he literally had a video of us fucking, then he could continue to use that against us. It's fucking creepy anyway. And no way is he getting anything from you either._

 **Harry Styles:** _I don't know then....what if he like watched us in person??_

God, Harry hated the idea. It made him feel sick, quite honestly, and he didn't want any of this to happen. He knew he would have to negotiate with Jamie to even the playing field somehow, a more fair deal, because he didn't know what to do anymore.

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Yeah what a great fucking idea, imagine Liam finding out I fucked one of his friends while the other watched. Harry, this isn't going to work._

 **Harry Styles:** _What isn't?_

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Anything. I want to be with you but now we have this little prick fucking everything up. It's absolutely ridiculous, Liam's going to find out one way or another if we don't do what Jamie says all the time._

 **Harry Styles:** _I don't want it ruining us. We just have to find something that will satisfy him enough to keep his stupid mouth shut._

 **Louis Tomlinson:** _Well there's nothing I'm wiling to do or allow. Let's talk about this later, this will most likely look suspicious if we keep talking now._

 **Harry Styles:** _Okay._

Liam wasn't looking, luckily, and was too encapsulated by the television to have noticed that Harry and Louis were both frantically texting. Eleanor was looking though, although she just smiled at Harry when they linked eyes, obviously not the slightest suspicious and instead trying to keep up her 'nice girl' facade. It was too sarcastically sweet.

Harry felt so stuck. He didn't want Jamie being involved with anything in his sex life, though it seemed Jamie didn't want it any other way. This was his way of getting to Harry on another level, which he had always wanted to do, and he had probably been thinking it up since he found out.

There had to be another way - Harry was praying for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is the storyline going okay? Is it a bit weird? Idk


	27. Twenty-Seven

Harry had Jamie's contact number up on his phone screen as he sat at home that evening, curled up in bed, and he would have been more relaxed if he wasn't going through all this shit. He pressed the call button with a deep exhale, putting his phone to his ear and waiting for the call to start going through. Jamie picked up after four rings.

"Hi, gorgeous. Had a think yet?" He greeted in a purr, followed by a chuckle. It wasn't funny on Harry's part.

"Jamie, can I just say that you're a complete and utter _bastard._ " Harry began, earning yet another amused giggle from Jamie. "I'm not taking either of your stupid options."

"That'd be a big mistake, though," Jamie warned, "Considering what I know."

"And how exactly would you go about letting Liam _know_ what you know?" Harry wondered, picking nervously at his bracelet.

"I'd just tell him, Harry." Jamie said. Harry could practically hear his smile when he said it. "Tell him you wanted me to play along with your dirty little secret."

"I've told Louis that you're blackmailing me, you know. It'd be a bad idea for you to continue with this, seeing as Louis isn't exactly happy with it." Harry threatened. He knew how defensive Louis could get, and could bet he was very good at hurting someone.

"I don't want threats, Harry, what I'm proposing is pretty harmless."

"I'm not giving you a fucking blowjob," Harry had lowered his voice speaking that line, knowing his family would hear otherwise through the paper-thin walls. "You can forget it. And neither me or Louis are letting you have a tape."

He heard Jamie slowly exhale, like a child about to throw a tantrum.

"Then Liam's going to know, isn't he?"

"Why do you have to do that to us, Jamie? We're supposed to be mates, aren't we? It's so shit. Could you at least show just the tiniest dose of respect?" Harry ranted, raising his tone slightly.

There was a heavy thudding on the wall, from his parents' side, and a furious shout for him to _'shut the hell up!'_

"Everything alright?" Jamie asked, trying to be concerned having heard the yell, and Harry literally rolled his eyes.

"Look, I would back you up if you were in my position. We may be different, I understand that, but _please_ consider this." Harry begged. "Please."

"I'm afraid I can't. Either you do something I ask, I tell Liam, or _you_ do. End of."

Harry heard the call cut off then, indicating that Jamie had hung up on him, and he groaned and threw his phone back down again. He was stressed out and he missed Louis so badly. 

He was really beginning to consider the final of the options Jamie had stated, him telling Liam _himself_ , because that way it could be put as lightly as possible. He knew that if it got to the point where Jamie blurted it out, it would go something like: _'Liam, Harry's fucking your brother!'_ That would be a complete tragedy.

He decided he would text Louis and ask to meet up, considering he really wanted to get out the house and clear his head, and what better way to do it than seeing the guy who injected him with happiness? Sure, it was only the evening after he had seen Louis (with Eleanor) at his house, but it would be nice meeting later in the evening, when it wasn't likely anybody would see them. Harry just prayed Eleanor wasn't still with him; that thought made him want to gag.

 **Harry:** _Please can we meet somewhere, I'm actually begging you. I'm feeling really stressed and my family are too loud .xx_

He only took just under two minutes to respond, so Harry was hoping he was on his own just hunched over his phone.

 **Louis:** _Right now ? Harry it's like half 9 and you have school tomorrow don't you xx_

Harry rolled his eyes at Louis' attempted maturity. He didn't really care, he just wanted to act like it.

 **Harry:** _Louis come on, I'm not 5 years old. I want to see you!!! I barely got to even look at you earlier :( .xx_

 **Louis:** _I know babe. Right, well Liam is sat with me right now and we are watching one of the avengers films so I'm gonna to have to talk my way outta this.....xx_

Harry smiled to himself a little bit too much at 'babe'. He did feel a little bad for breaking up their brotherly bonding session, but maybe he was more than selfish when it came to Louis.

 **Harry:** _Thank you!! Just tell him you're meeting Zayn or Aaron or whatever your friends are called ;) .xx_

 **Louis:** _I told him I'm meeting Zayn and he doesn't seem very happy about it :/ he's asking me why it's so sudden and why Zayn can't just come here....but I'll come and pick you up little Hazza, be there in 5 Xx_

Harry almost tripped over his own lanky legs jumping to his feet to fix his unruly appearance. He was dressed in a pair of Star Wars pyjamas his auntie had gotten him (his usual ones were in the wash) and his hair was a literal nest. He jumped into a pair of jeans that were hung over the back of his desk chair, pulling on a Ramones t-shirt and ruffling his hair into a visibly appealing sight.

He stuffed his wallet and phone into his pockets and jogged down the stairs. As he sat on the bottom step, stuffing his feet into his Converses, Gemma left the living room and smiled when she spotted him. _For crying out loud, go away._

"Where are you off to?" She practically sang, leaning against the banister, making it clear she was up for a chitchat. Harry really wasn't.

"Uh, revision at Niall's." Harry improvised, jumping to his feet again to search for his coat amongst the jumble hanging on the pegs.

"At this time? Don't you have school tomorrow?" Gemma cocked an eyebrow. "Why can't you just revise on your own?"

"Why can't you mind your own business?" Harry hummed, a smirk to show he wasn't being completely serious, and she playfully slapped his arm.

"Shut up." She jeered, "I know your secret, I bet it's actually a date with Niall."

"I'd rather go on a date with a homeless man with one arm." Harry remarked, before they both burst into spontaneous laughter. Harry liked those moments with his sister, which seemed pretty rare at the moment.

A car horn blared from outside, and he panicked when he looked out the spyhole to see car headlights outside. Gemma tilted her head aside, jutting out her lower lip.

"Niall can drive?"

"It's his dad coming to get me." He made up, reaching for the handle, and Gemma grabbed his arm before he could leave.

"Harry, is it Liam's brother... what's his name, Luke?" She guessed.

"It's Louis."

"So it _is_ Liam's brother! Wit-woo, Harry, got yourself an older man? Never thought he'd give in."

"Stooop!" Harry whined, chuckling to himself. "I've got to go."

"Is he hot? Can I meet him?!"

"NO!" Harry yelled, probably a bit louder than necessary, opening the front door a bit so that Louis knew he was _slowly_ on his way out. "You most certainly cannot."

"Why not? I need to give my seal of approval." Gemma smiled. "Otherwise I might just tell mum and dad."

" _God_ , please don't, they'd probably get me a restraining order against him." Harry groaned. "Why do you want to meet him anyway?"

"Because I'm your sister. And he's your wittle crush," She had put on a babyish voice for the final sentence, pinching Harry's cheek.

"You know what? Fine." He gave in. "Wait here, I'll go and ask him. If he doesn't want to meet you, it's not happening."

"If he doesn't want to then he's rude." Gemma giggled. "Go on, I'll be waiting."

Harry jogged outside, tempted to dive into Louis' car and shout 'DRIVE!' but knowing Gemma would then tell their parents. He opened the passenger side door, Louis smiling in his badboy denim jacket and ripped jeans.

"Listen," Harry gently said, so Louis' expression instantly diverted to concentrated. "My sister, she knows. I'm so sorry, she kind of put the pieces together herself, and now she wants to meet you."

"Wait... what?" At least Louis was laughing, through the baffled expression. "Right now?"

"Yes."

"Umm..." Louis was slowly removing his car keys from the ignition, placing them in his pocket, like he was still making up his mind. "....Sure?"

"Really?"

"I mean, yeah." He shrugged. "Is she... okay with the fact I'm older?"

"It's only three years, Louis, come on." Harry chuckled. "She's fine with it."

Louis jumped out the car, slamming the door behind him, stretching his arms out in front of him as though he had just driven ten times the journey he had. He followed Harry up the path rather confidently, and Harry popped his head into the house to summon Gemma outside.

She had a huge grin radiating on her face when she saw Louis, mostly smugness, and Harry wanted to slap himself in the face.

"Hello," She greeted, "You must be Louis?"

She finally got the name right, thank God. 

"Yeah," He breathed a laugh, "And you're..."

"Gemma, Harry's sister." She introduced, holding out a hand, which Louis firmly shook.

"Cool, nice to meet you." Louis charmingly smiled, before withdrawing his hand again and casually placing it in his jacket pocket.

"Anyway, we're going." Harry changed the topic, tugging on Louis' denim sleeve. "Nice little meet-up and all."

"Yeah, lovely to meet you." Louis smiled.

"You too, Louis." She grinned. Louis gave a sweet little wave and turned to head to the car, whereas Harry glanced up at Gemma almost in approval. She dramatically fanned her face as a way of expressing Harry had done _very_ well in terms of Louis' hotness, and Harry rolled his eyes, a dimple coming through on his cheek.

"Oh, and hey!" Gemma called back suddenly, when Harry and Louis had reached the end of the path. They both turned back her way. "Look after my little brother, won't you?"

"Of course." Louis softly smiled. "He will be back safe and sound, that's a promise."

"You guys go and have fun, I'll see you later, Harry." She waved them off.

The moment they had gotten into Louis' car, Harry was apologising.

"I'm so sorry that had to happen," He groaned, "She's always intrusive like that."

"She's nice, Harry, don't worry about it. Could have been a lot worse, couldn't it?" Louis asked, looking over his shoulder as he reversed the car off of Harry's driveway.

"True." Harry shrugged. "So, where to?"

"There's a diner in the centre that's always open late, let's get a drink there?" Louis suggested, putting on the radio. "And have a chat."

"Sounds good, there's a lot to go over." Harry sighed.

Louis blasted the radio higher on the drive there, opening the two front windows so that the cool night air raked through their hair, and they reached the diner in no time. Louis parked at the side of the road, taking the keys out so that the music stopped abruptly.

It was pretty busy in the diner, but nobody was in there that Harry and Louis knew - luckily enough. Louis bought them both a soft drink and they sat in a booth in the corner.

"So," Louis began, "Anything specific on your mind? Probably that bellend Jamie, am I right?"

"Too right," Harry rolled his eyes, stirring the ice around in his lemonade using the straw. "I phoned him earlier and told him neither of those options are happening, so he's told me to choose what to do now. Either he tells Liam, or we do."

"I've been thinking a lot about that. I know how pissed Liam will be, maybe my mum too, even, but what else is there to do? It's not like we should just break off seeing each other because we're too scared." Louis explained, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"So what are you suggesting?" Harry asked.

"Who am I kidding? I have no idea. My family don't even know I'm into guys at all, let alone that I'm seeing you. They think I'm with Eleanor, which has hardly made anything any easier."

"They wouldn't judge you for liking guys, would they? I mean, Liam's fine with me, he knows I do. And your mum seems lovely enough." Harry shrugged.

"Exactly, I know, I'm worrying about nothing." Louis nervously laughed. "What's the worst case scenario after telling everybody?"

"Liam doesn't want to be my friend anymore?" Harry stated. "And wants to distance himself from you."

"Doubtful. I reckon he'd just have to suck it up and accept it, right? It's not like we would be making out in front of him." Louis chuckled. "Though it'd be hard to resist you."

Harry smirked, blushing maybe a little.

"You're a charmer. So what's happening? Are we... actually going to tell him?"

Louis slowly exhaled through pursed lips. "That's better than having to go anywhere near Jamie's tiny dick, isn't it?"

Harry stifled a laugh. "Yes, definitely."

Louis was about to speak again, when he was cut off by his phone vibrating on the table top. They both looked down to see that Liam's name was flashing up on the screen.

"For fuck's sake, the devil himself." Louis rolled his eyes, scooping it up and putting it on loud speaker so that Harry could listen in.

"Liam. Hi."

"You're not really with Zayn, are you?"

Harry's lower lip caught between his teeth, looking desperately at Louis, who was looking right back.

"Huh?" He stupidly responded, illogically.

"You're not with Zayn, he just posted a Snapchat story and he's at a party."

Louis mimed 'for fuck's sake' to Harry, who was watching on in worry.

"I'm at the party with him."

"Yeah, definitely sounds like you're at a party," Liam sarcastically muttered, "Well, the truth is, I'm not at home either."

Louis' eyebrows lowered in confusion, exchanging baffled looks with Harry.

"What do you mean?"

"You left your location on on your Snapchat map," Liam sighed, "I can see you through the window."

Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> La-dee-dah-dee-dahhh, sorry for the cliffhangahhh


	28. Twenty-Eight

"You left your location on on your Snapchat map. I can see you through the window."

In an instant, Harry and Louis whipped their heads over to look out of the nearby window, but outside was too dark to properly see, and the dim streetlights weren't doing much to aid it. Harry's heart was racing, palms sweating and head spinning.

"Well, fuck." Louis defeatedly groaned, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. "Just our luck."

The bell above the door in the diner rang out, and Liam emerged. He was dressed in an old Parka that he used to wear to school a couple of years ago, and a scruffy pair of old trainers, which showed he had probably thrown on whatever he could so that he could be right on Louis' trail. Wow, he must have walked all the way to the diner once he had seen Louis there on the snapchat map.

He had a very concentrated expression, eyebrows furrowed as he approached while looking between the two of them. He dramatically pulled up a chair, sitting on it backwards and resting his folded arms on the back. What did he think this was, a fucking soap opera? It might as well have been.

"What's going on?" He asked the bombshell question. He didn't look to be joking around either.

"We're just having a drink, Liam." Louis muttered, refusing to even look at him, distracting himself by using his finger to push around a pile of salt that had tipped from a nearby shaker. Harry was such an atrocious liar that he didn't dare to even look Liam in the eye, or say a word.

"I'm not stupid, Louis. If this was _just_ a drink, why did you lie and say you were with Zayn? You're seeing each other, aren't you?" Liam accused. "Harry, speak up."

Harry just shrugged, looking down at the tabletop.

"Don't put Harry on the spot," Louis defended, "This is all very dramatic, Liam, the way you're acting."

"You haven't answered my question, so I'm taking it as a yes." Liam grunted. "I knew you gave Harry that mark on his neck, I fucking _knew_ it. And the shoes in the hallway! For fuck's sake, how long have you been hiding this? I thought I was going crazy!"

"This isn't fucking Eastenders, Liam, calm down. Why does this mean so much to you? I can guarantee hundreds of people around Britain are seeing a mate's sibling."

"I don't like it. I've mentioned that." Liam spat.

"That's very selfish, Liam." Harry mumbled, as quietly as he could without losing the surge of confidence.

"Selfish? You two wouldn't know each other if it wasn't for me! I knew I shouldn't have introduced you all. Wait until I tell mum, Louis. She's not going to be happy." Liam threatened.

"You don't have to tell mum," Louis stated, hands splayed out defensively, "She will just say I'm taking advantage of him, and he won't be allowed round anymore."

"Have you slept together?" Liam interjected, an accusing finger diverting between the two of them. "I swear, if you have..."

"Why does it matter to you? It's none of your business." Louis hissed. "We're two human beings, the fact that I'm related to you is really pretty insignificant."

"You've been cheating on Eleanor." Liam shuddered. "Poor girl, she really likes you. And meanwhile you've been fucking my mate!"

"Stop saying it like that. You can either accept what's happening, or you can sulk like a three-year-old." Louis snapped. "They're your options."

"Or I could tell mum."

"Who will accept it in the long-run, and then you'll look like an idiot. You already suspected something, I know you did, so why are you letting this affect you so much?" Harry finally spoke up properly. "Can you not just face it?"

Liam pouted his lips to the side, huffing out a sigh through his nose. "I just don't like it."

"You've made that clear. What you've got to do now is accept it, yes?" Louis asked. "It'll take some getting used to, sure, but it won't be long before you're fine with it, if you let it be that way."

"Do you really like each other? Or is this some weird friends with benefits shit?"

Harry and Louis linked eyes then, having turned their heads at the same time, and Louis' mouth quirked up into a smile. "It's nothing like that. Well, I'm sure I like Harry. Can't speak for him."

Harry got those butterflies again, the eruption inside him, and he couldn't hold back a dimpled grin.

"Yeah, I definitely like Louis too."

Liam slowly nodded, while steadily exhaling through his nose once again. "Right. Okay."

"Don't be so blunt, can you not see what we mean to each other?" Louis sighed. "We didn't mean for it to happen."

"You know what I don't like about it?" Liam snapped. "The fact that you're practically going to steal my friend away from me now, Louis. He's going to come round and want to go straight to _you_."

"It doesn't have to be like that, we can all get along." Harry reassured, patting Louis on the leg under the table as if to ask whether he was okay. Louis patted his leg back.

"What, so that I have to sit there and watch you making out or something?"

"We're hardly going to sit there making out, Liam, stop being dramatic," Louis rolled his eyes. "To be honest, this might bring me closer to you. We're not close, are we?"

"Because you're horrible to me."

"Well I've changed. I'm not anymore, have you noticed that? I've struggled a lot with myself, working myself out, and that's why I was always so harsh towards you." Louis admitted.

Wow, that was interesting to hear. All the times Louis had been sarcastic, mocking or generally _mean_ to Liam were because he was annoyed with himself. He had been with Eleanor for so long that he hadn't even considered the thought that maybe he liked guys. Harry changed that.

"And so Harry, your little relationship with Jamie was... fake?" Liam added up.

"Yes." Harry stated. " _God_ yes, do you really think somebody like me would end up with someone as explicit as him?"

"That's true, it did seem like a weird match." Liam agreed. He was seeming to be warming up slightly to it now, though he did keep sparing some very disapproving looks, and his body language in general showed that he was very tense. He really hated the idea of Harry being with his brother, to the point where he almost didn't want to accept it even if he began to.

"Definitely." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Louis, your friends don't know you're into guys? I definitely didn't, it's quite surprising." Liam pointed out. "But... I'll hopefully get used to it. This is all very weird to me."

"I hope you do too, Li. No, my friends have no clue. Heaven forbid I ever tell Zayn so soon, can you imagine the comments I'd get? I sometimes wonder why I'm friends with him."

That was true: there would be an inevitable backlash of excited criticism from Zayn, a series of mocking phrases and actions -- God, that was annoying to imagine. The boy's maturity level seemed not to have changed since he had entered secondary school, he was like a typical teenage bully, who used humour as an excuse for his actions. Nice.

"Wait, Harry, what the hell do you see in my brother?" Liam suddenly questioned, eyebrows raised, and Louis leant across to slap him harshly on the arm.

"I'm sat right here, you twat!"

"I am genuinely wondering," Liam mused, "You're pretty gross, your room's always a tip."

"So's mine, though," Harry shrugged, with a stark laugh, "I see a lot in him. He's lovely and gorgeous."

"I hope you don't think we look alike if you're into Louis." Liam nervously laughed, nudging Harry across the table.

"No, you're very different to him, don't you worry." Harry giggled. "You seem to be becoming more comfortable with this, Liam."

"I realised that what you said before it right, what's the point in getting mad when, one, you didn't mean for this to happen, and two, I can't exactly prise you both apart." He theorised. "Most I can do right now is ask some questions and try to get my head around it."

"Thanks, Liam. And I'd appreciate that when mum does come to know about me and Harry, that you please let her know I'm not just using him? I know that she will immediately assume it, especially seeing as something happened once that I haven't exactly told anyone about..."

Oh?

"What's that?" Harry queried, turning to look at him more. "Something happened?"

"It was just when you and Niall were round once, and my mum must have seen me looking at you... dragged me into the kitchen and told me to keep my eyes off you, that you're younger and I can't 'take advantage of Liam's friends'." He explained with finger quotations, rolling his eyes and slapping his hands down onto the tabletop.

"Oh. Well that's... not good." Liam commented, mouth pouted to the side. "She noticed you staring at him all the time, yet I never did. Maybe I'm just stupid."

"You are," Harry smirked, "But anyway, Lou, she will understand so long as I convince her you're not just using me, won't she?"

"God, I don't know. Depends what mood you catch her in. She could slap me up the side of the head and tell me to end it." He lightly laughed. "Or welcome it with open arms."

"I'm sure when I'm eighteen it'll all be better." Harry shrugged. "Even though that's, like, nine months away."

"My mum can say what she wants, it won't change anything."

"Yeah, you guys can be Romeo and Juliet. Though it's still a very strange concept and you're going to have to give me time to get used to this."

"Understandable, little brother. But thank you for listening to what we had to say, even though your little detective mission to find us was a little crazy." Louis smugly smiled, punching Liam on the upper arm so that he winced and complained.

"I had a gut feeling and I followed it." Liam mentioned. "The moment you said you had to go, I was onto you."

"I'm officially blocking you on Snapchat, you creep," Louis chuckled, "In case you try to follow me around again, track what I do."

"Whatever." Liam rolled his eyes.

Harry couldn't help but smile to himself, his inner prayers having been answered; sure, Liam wasn't 100% okay with it yet, it was clear he would rather it not be happening, but the fact that he was trying his best to accept it was the most important aspect.

* * *

When Harry told Niall, in the school canteen at lunch, he had to go as far as standing up and loudly gasping. He was over-the-top like that.

"What?!"

"Yes." Harry giggled. "Shocked?"

"I think you can see how shocked!" Niall cackled, sitting back in his seat once he noticed pretty much everybody gawping at him like he was a weirdo.

"But... are you okay with it?"

"Why would I not be? You're cool Louis is cool, you can be mega cool together." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Never say 'mega cool' ever again." Harry ridiculed. "But thanks, Niall, appreciate it."

"When's the wedding? I wanna be best man!" Niall exclaimed excitedly, clapping his hands.

"Fuck off, if anything it'd be me! I'm the one suffering here." Liam cut in. "You can be a flower boy."

"Why are we planning a wedding now? Damn, I've only said we're seeing each other, it might not even last, who knows?" Harry said.

"Not with _that_ pessimism it won't!" Niall fired him up. "You can be together forever and ever, and terrorise Liam and his thoughts for as long as possible."

" _Don't_ ," Liam groaned, rubbing at his temples with an exasperated laugh, "I swear, leave my mind be. I'd rather imagine myself sleeping with a gross old _man_ than my equally gross brother sabotaging little Harry."

"Hey, I'll have you know, he's a gentleman." Harry defended. "And he's not too gross, he smells good, looks good. It's the state of his bedroom that's a bit gross."

"Are you still stressed about my mum knowing about you and Louis?" Liam asked him suddenly. "Louis hasn't hinted anything to her yet."

"Well, does she really have to know yet? Could just be kept a secret. Louis has to wait until he's ready to come out to her too, right? I'm sure your mum thinks he's completely straight still with Eleanor."

"That's true, she does." Liam sighed. "Louis will be able to get through that, he's a strong one."

"I'm sure he will." Harry smiled. "But thanks, guys, for the support. Liam, I'm sure full acceptance will come with time."

"Yeah, I hope. Sorry for being such a dick about it all the time, all my accusations and stuff in the past. I just knew something was going on, had a feeling. I'll always support you, Harry, even if it does involve dating Louis."

Things seemed to be going okay for once. A weight had been lifted from Harry's shoulders, and for now he felt very truly happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you think there's anything else that can really be added to the story, or should it end here? I really don't know, what do people think? Sorry if the chapter was boring idk


	29. Twenty-Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter.

Harry made a mental note of who knew of his relationship with Louis, and who didn't. They'd told Niall and Gemma... that's it. There was still Louis' mum, Harry's set of parents, and Louis' friends. The hardest, by far, was going to be Louis' mum; Harry's parents didn't care about his life, quite frankly, so they would support it generally; and hopefully Zayn would get over it without making some crude comments about it. Harry was prepared anyway.

He had been extra perky at school, his friends could tell his mood had brightened lately, as in the past he would have been carrying the burden of his parents' latest argument on his shoulders. During their lessons, he saw Liam looking his way a few times, caught in a thoughtful state of mind as he stared into space in Harry's direction, before smiling slightly once he saw he'd been caught. He was clearly still very pensive about what he had uncovered, unsure how to properly accept it, and probably couldn't get it off his mind.

 

Liam was hospitable enough to invite Harry and Niall round after school on Friday afternoon, throwing himself in at the deep end, knowing he would sooner or later have to face Harry and Louis being around each other. And added to that, Louis was going to have his own friends round - Zayn, Aaron and Zachary. It was a pretty intimidating scenario on Harry's part, but he knew Louis would protect him and say what had to be said.

"I'm pretty sure Louis is going to tell his mates today," Liam noted, as he drove he and the other two to his house. "He was talking about it this morning. Not sure when he's going to tell my mum."

"Zayn's definitely going to be there?" Harry stressed, noticing that he had been picking the print off the detailing his backpack again, something he did when he was massively nervous about something.

"Yes. Don't worry about it, he's actually matured quite a lot lately since he got a girlfriend." Liam informed. "Bit surprised somebody would want to date him, actually, he's a bit of a dick."

Harry hummed in thought, deciding to stop the vandalisation of his own school bag, his mind shifting to Zayn's looks. He was tremendously attractive, dark-eyed and holding a sexy aura, but his personality definitely had to be worked on. Harry preferred his angel Louis, any day.

Liam pulled into his driveway, only just managing to stick it right on the edge, as Louis' car plus another were already crammed in the pebbled space. Harry wanted to stay in the car, but Niall was opening his door up and tugging him out, knowing he wouldn't come along otherwise. Liam threw the front door open rather dramatically, kicking off his shoes by the other scruffy pairs, whereas Harry (shakily) pulled off his Chelsea boots and set them on the shoe rack.

There was practically a stampede of footsteps coming down the stairs, Louis and his three mates, and delight seemed to erupt behind Louis' eyes when they found Harry gawkily stood there. He dropped a sly wink, one only he, Liam and Niall saw, which caused Niall to giggle to himself from witnessing, and Harry to blush (still).

"Little Harry!" Zayn exclaimed, that smugness still laces in his tone, before he sauntered off into the kitchen, quite freely, as though it was his house too.

"He's changed, has he?" Harry muttered in Liam's ear, and he just shrugged in response.

Louis shot a sorry look Harry's way, despite Zayn not having done much wrong, and led Aaron and Zachary the way Zayn had gone.

"Follow if you want, guys!" He called to Harry and his friends over his shoulder, and it was blatantly a hint. Liam set foot first, nudging his head to call Harry and Niall to follow, until everybody had piled into the kitchen.

Zayn was casually pouring himself a glass of Pepsi from the fridge into a glass, chugging a third of it down immediately and returning the bottle to the fridge. He casually leant on the kitchen counter, slurping the drink rather ungraciously and setting the glass on the counter. Just being in the room with him was ominous enough for Harry; how did the man's girlfriend cope? _God._

Harry analysed that Louis' two other friends weren't so cockily confident, modestly stood by Louis, and Harry felt a little more comfortable knowing those two were there too.

Louis cleared his throat suddenly, so that everybody's eyes were on him. Harry wanted to disappear suddenly. Louis looked over at him and he smiled.

"What?" Zayn shrugged, though his mouth curled up into an amused smirk. "Why clear your throat like that and not say anything?"

"Because it's hard to find the right words to say." Louis bit back. Zayn looked a little baffled.

"Umm... okay? Bit poetic, mate," He snorted, sipping at his Pepsi again.

"There's something I need to tell you guys." Louis referenced to his friends with a gesture, and Harry felt his stomach lurch. He wanted to excuse himself from the room and run for the hills, but he was pretty much glued to the spot as Louis' mates looked over at him with interest.

"What is it?" Zachary queried, his full attention on Louis. Aaron was just as intrigued, hands tucked in his pockets and head tilted aside. Harry felt like his skin had grown hot all over in trepidation.

"Uh..." Louis sighed, looking at Harry instead. "Something quite unexpected."

"You're looking at little Hazza," Zayn snickered, "Did he suck your dick again, is that it?"

Aaron and Zachary looked bewildered, shocked, while Harry loudly groaned in annoyance, and Liam whipped his head to look at Harry.

"What?" He asked, eyebrows furrowed. "Why does Zayn know something like that?"

"It's a long story." Harry rolled his eyes. "One Zayn can't let go, evidently."

"Very funny, Zayn, but no. It does involve Harry, though." Louis snapped. Harry felt like this was already going wrong, but he had noticed that Zayn's expression had actually softened suddenly.

"Okay, sorry," He gently said, "I can tell you're acting all serious. Go ahead and talk."

Surprising, but very maybe of Zayn. He had finally wised up and realised that his constant sexual commentary made people unable to express what really needed to be said.

Louis slung an arm around Harry's shoulder, pulling him in to his side, and Zayn's gesture was calculating as he watched.

"Me and Harry are together."

The silence was agonising, and Harry hated how this had mainly become a bid to gain Zayn's approval. He was nodding slowly to himself, chin resting on his palm, which was propped up on his other arm.

"One hundred percent serious here?" He leisurely added, eyebrows furrowed a little. "Because if you are, I am _so_ sorry about the comment I made before."

"Very serious, Zayn." Louis confirmed, and Harry placed his head on his shoulder.

"You're... into guys." Zayn added it up. "That's okay, right? I mean... unexpected..." He looked so baffled, confused about it all, but at least he wasn't dropping any snide comments.

Aaron and Zachary were clearly fine with it, Zachary patting Louis on the shoulder and Aaron smiling warmly, so that was a welcoming sight.

"I know it's a bit of a bombshell," Louis breathed a laugh, "But I thought I'd say as soon as possible, so it's not a massive secret. Oh, and so you stop the comments, Zayn."

"Yeah, yeah, I... I'll stop." Zayn nodded, putting on a smile. "It's cute though, I'll be honest, you look good together."

It was like a whole new Zayn had stepped out; all he had needed was some clarification that his references were no longer welcome. He was the sort of Zayn that Harry wouldn't mind being around more often.

"Thanks, mate." Louis appreciatively said, with a quick thumbs up and a wink, and Zayn gave a nod and a smile in response. 

Well, that had gone much better than Harry would have forseen. Zayn was clearly a lot more mature deep down than he had once seemed, so that side to him had stepped forward to accept it. Nice.

When the shock had worn off a little, and the topic had changed (thanks to Niall) onto something else, Louis leant in to whisper to Harry.

"I can't believe I actually managed to tell them."

Harry grinned, nuzzling slightly into Louis' neck.

"I'm glad you did. It was very confident of you to." He whispered back.

"Still got to tell my mum," Louis sighed, "She's upstairs now. And I'm feeling confident still, but it scares me to imagine saying those words to her, she will probably stab me."

"She won't stab you," Harry giggled, "Stop being over dramatic. She will love you regardless."

"Let's talk properly in the hallway." Louis said, before grabbing Harry's wrist gently and leading him out the kitchen, and everybody left in there understood now that they might want some time away on their own, just the two of them. Though Liam did look slightly disheartened, probably about the whole 'Louis stealing his friend' side of it. Bless him.

Louis led Harry to the living room, and they sat on the sofa together.

"I just keep playing it out in my head." Louis explained, lightly shaking his head. "The outcome of telling my mum."

"It's understandable to worry, but there's no need for it whatsoever. I'm almost certain she will be okay with it." Harry reassured, tenderly tracing his index finger up Louis' forearm, looking him deep in the eyes. "Want to make out and calm yourself down?"

Louis' mouth slowly stretched into a smirk, eyes flicking from Harry's eyes to his mouth.

"I'd love to."

Their lips met furiously fast, immediately molding together and moving passionately, Louis pushing Harry back a little on the sofa. These moments were the ones Harry loved most, the spontaneous, handsy moments, and he was sure they would get a lot of those as their relationship progressed. Harry carded a hand through Louis' feathery hair, the other gliding up his bare back under his t-shirt. Harry loved kissing him, loved his hands on him.

They were so caught up in the moment that neither of them had heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and they certainly hadn't heard the creak of the living room door being pushed open.

" _Louis_!" It was the scolding voice of Jay, Louis' mum, who was stood in the doorway with an ajar mouth.

Louis immediately climbed off of Harry, heart jumping in his chest, scrambling to his feet while Harry shyly wiped his mouth and sat up properly.

"Mum, _God_ , this is such shitty timing..." Louis breathed, pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing deeply, face reddening a little.

" _What_ have I told you?!" She raged, definitely loud enough for everybody in the kitchen to hear too. Harry's heart was racing, looking down in shame at his hands, his young age emphasised by how timid and pink-cheeked he had gone.

"You don't understand, mum. Harry--"

"Don't try to justify what you're doing! Harry is Liam's friend, in case you've forgotten, and what you're doing here is taking advantage of somebody under eighteen!" She remarked, hands splayed in disbelief. "I did warn you not to do this, Louis, do you remember that?"

"Mum, we're together!" Louis finalised, having had to raise his voice significantly to make himself properly heard. "We're in a relationship."

She seemed to silence. Her eyes darted to look at Harry, who glanced up slowly through his eyelashes, pretty fearful at that moment.

"Harry, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, what Louis said is true." He piped up. "We're together."

"You're together? And on what basis is this okay?" She questioned, eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Do your parents know about this, Harry?"

No.

"Yes." Harry lied. "And they're fine with it. So am I. I _really_ like Louis, and I can understand why you're apprehensive, but there's no need to be."

She hesitated, eyes flicking between them (with an evident look of disappointment Louis' way).

"And you are comfortable that Louis is a little bit older than you? I'm not sure I'm okay with this." She shook her head lightly. "Your parents are definitely okay with it?"

"Yes." Harry lied again. "They're absolutely fine with it, and I definitely am. Nobody's going to get into any trouble."

Louis looked a little bit upset by his mum's judgement, so Harry reached up and grabbed ahold of his hand. Jay watched the action closely.

"Well, it seems like you care about each other." She sized it up. "I had a feeling this was coming, seeing as Louis was always staring you down whenever you came round."

She smiled lightly then, which made the situation a little better, and Harry and Louis felt they were finally in the position to smile about it too.

"At least you had a bit of an idea." Harry giggled, nudging Louis from where he stood.

"You make sure you take good care of Harry," Jay pointed a finger at Louis, "He's so lovely, you look after him, won't you? Don't break his heart, I'll be very angry."

Harry giggled once again, while Louis playfully rolled his eyes. "Of course I'll look after him, mum. I'd never break his heart, he's way too precious."

"Thanks, love." Harry grinned.

"Well, thanks for letting me know. Even if I had to walk in on... that." Jay laughed. Then she left the room, heading off to the kitchen.

"Oh my God!" Louis immediately cringed, his face in his hands. "Trust her to walk in on that!"

"At least she knows! Hey, that was probably better than having to explain it to her from the start." Harry justified. "She's fine with it, Lou! Everyone is!"

"You haven't really told your parents, have you?"

"...no."

"Harry!" Louis laughed. "They need to know too!"

"My sister's probably already opened her big mouth about it, she always does." Harry shrugged, pretty unfazed by it. "I'm not really bothered, they can either accept it or they can go and fuck themselves."

"Charming." Louis smirked. "I'm so glad we're out, you don't understand how much of a relief it is!"

A relief it definitely was. Harry felt weightless with bliss, cuddling back into Louis. It was all falling into place even further, adding to his happiness, something he had been lacking for too long before.

And it turned out Gemma _had_ told their parents, the sneaky bitch, so when Harry finally plucked up the courage to tell them, they told him they had found out from another source. That meant Gemma. They were fine with it too, saw it as a completely normal occurrence.

It was nice for Harry and Louis to be able to openly go out on dates too, without having to constantly be looking over their shoulders in case someone they knew was around, and they had never been happier. Liam gradually got used to them being together, shielding his face the first few times he saw them kiss (It was funny watching his face scrunch up in disgust, as if he was watching his parents making out or something), but he warmed up to it before too long at all.

They all spent a lot more time together, Liam's friends with Louis', and Zayn managed to mature even further along the line. He even stopped using the tedious nickname of 'little Hazza', probably because he knew Louis would beat the utter shit out of him if he continued.

Overall, Harry was greatly thankful that Liam had introduced him to Louis. If he hadn't, who knows? Maybe they would never have met. Harry thought people only fell for a mate's sibling in the movies, but now he _definitely_ knew otherwise. He had managed to fall for his best friend's brother, and man was it great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> This had been such a fun storyline to write! I will definitely be open to any little storyline ideas anyone has and will take them into consideration. Thanks again, hope you enjoyed :) xx


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